A Tale of Two Slayers
by Irish American 67
Summary: My take on what might have happened if Kendra had decided to stay in Sunnydale after defeating the Order of Taraka. Starts in What's My Line (Part 2) then continues on from there. Rated M now.
1. What's My Line? (part 2)

Summary: My take on what might have happened if Kendra had decided to stay in Sunnydale after defeating the Order of Taraka. Starts in What's My Line (Part 2) then continues on from there.

Chapter 1- What's My Line? (part 2)

"Let's start again. You're the who?" I ask the dark skinned girl who's circling me. Well, actually, we're circling each other, but you get the point.

The girl stares at me intensely as she replies again, her accent heavy. "I am de Slayer."

I'm totally wigging. There's no way she can be the Slayer! _I'm_ the Slayer!

"Nice cover story. Here's a tip, don't try it on someone who's not the _real_ Slayer!"

"You can't stop me. Even if you kill me, another will be sent to take me place."

"Could you stop with the Slayer thing?! _I'm_ the damn Slayer!"

"Nonsense. Dere is but one, and I am she."

Damn it! This girl is definitely sticking to her story. It doesn't make sense, though! If she wasn't positive that she's the Slayer, then the revelation that _I'm _the Slayer should have fazed her and she'd have dropped the act already! But obviously, _I'm_ the Slayer! So who the hell is she?

"Okay... Scenario. I back off. You promise not to go all wiggy until we go to my watcher and figure out what this is all about."

"'Wiggy'?"

"You know. No kicko no fighto?"

The girl, Kendra, she said her name is, thinks for a minute, then- "I accept your scenario."

We both drop the fighting stances, but we're both _far _from relaxed.

"Your English is very odd, ya know." Kendra points out.

_Look who's talking._ I think. "Yeah. It's something about being woken by an axe. Makes me talk all crazy." She shrugs slightly. "So, you were sent here?"

"Yes. By me Watcher."

"To do what, exactly?"

"To do me duty. I am here to kill vampires."

* * *

><p>"Your Watcher is Sam Zabuto, you say?" Giles asks after Kendra and I explain the sitch in the Library.<p>

"Yes sir." Kendra says respectfully.

"We've never met. But he is very well respected." Giles thinks out loud.

"What? So he's a real guy? As in... non-fictional?" I ask. Kendra rolls her eyes.

"And what are you called?" Giles asks Kendra, ignoring me.

"I am de vampire slayer." She pronounced it "vumpire slayer".

"We got that part." I say, totally peeved. "He means your name."

"Oh." She says, like that thought hadn't occurred to her. "Dey call me Kendra, only. I have no last name, sir."

_How about Summers?_ I think. _You've already taken my Slayer-ness, my Watcher. Why not my name, too? _ I think bitterly. _Kendra Summers._ "Can you say 'stuck in the 80's'?" I ask sarcastically, earning a glare from Giles.

"Buffy, please." He warns. Then, he turns to Kendra. "There has obviously been some kind of misunderstanding here."

Just then, Willow walks in. "Hey." She says cheerfully.

"Identify yourself!" Kendra shouts at her as she prepares to attack.

"Back off, Pink Ranger. This is my friend-"

"Friend?" She asks, confused.

"You know. Person you hang with? Amigo?"

"I-I don't understand."

I roll my eyes and turn to Giles. "You try. I'm tapped."

Giles sighs before answering Kendra. "Kendra... There are a few people... civilians, if you will... who know Buffy's identity. Willow is one of them. And they also spend time together. Socially."

"And you _allow_ dis, sir?"

"Well you see..."

"But de Slayer must work in secret. For security-"

"Of course." Giles interrupts her. "With Buffy, however, it's... Some flexibility is required." I glare at him like "Hey!"

"Why?" Wow, this girl asks _way_ too many questions.

"Enough already!" Willow mumbles. "Hi guys. What's going on?"

"There's been a big mix-up." I explain.

"It seems that, somehow, another Slayer has been sent to Sunnydale." Giles explains more.

"Is that even possible?" Will asks. "I mean, two Slayers at the same time?"

"Not that I know of. The new Slayer is only called after the previous Slayer has died..." Then, his eyes get big and wide as he has a thought. A big thought. "Good lord... You _were_ dead, Buffy."

"I was only gone for a minute!" I protest.

"Clearly it doesn't matter how long you were gone. You were physically dead, causing the activation of the next Slayer."

"She... died?" Kendra asks, as confused as everyone else.

"Just a little." I mutter under my breath.

"Yes. She drowned." Giles says softly. It still kinda hurts us to think about it. "But she was revived." He finishes.

"So there really are two of them?" Willow asks.

"It would appear so. Yes." Giles answers as he sits down. "We have no precedent for this. I'm quite flummoxed."

"What's the flum?" I interject. That's right. I know the word interject. "It's a mistake. She isn't supposed to be here. She goes home." I turn to Kendra. "No offense. But, I'm not dead. And it's a teeny bit creepy having you around."

"I cannot simply leave. I was sent here for a reason. Mr. Zabuto said all the signs indicate dat a very dark power is about to rise in Sunnydale."

"He's quite right. I'll need to contact him." Giles agrees.

"So what was your plan for fighting this dark power? Just sort of attack people 'till you found a bad one?"

"Of course not." Kendra growls.

"Then why the hell did you jump me?"

"I thought you were a vampire." She says sheepishly.

"Oh, a swing and a miss for the rookie."

"I had good reason to think you were. Did I not see you kissing a vampire?"

"Buffy would never do that!" Willow says in my defense. Then, she catches herself. "Oh... Except for... that sometimes you do that. But only with Angel! Right?"

"Yes right. You saw me with Angel." I explain to Kendra. "He's a vampire, but he's good."

"Angel? You mean Angelus? I've read of him. He is a monster."

"No no. He's good now." Giles assures her.

"Really." Will agrees.

"He had a gypsy curse." I explain. Wow, there's a lot of explaining going around.

"Oh." Kendra says, confused. "He had a what?"

"Just trust me. Angel's on the home team now. Wouldn't hurt a fly."

"I cannot believe you. He looked to me just like another animal when I-" Kendra catches herself, and my eyes grow wide.

"When you what? What did you do to him?" I ask, standing up, ready to attack.

"I..."

"What did you do?!" I scream.

* * *

><p>"Angel!" I shout as I burst into the storage room of some place. Kendra lead me here, because she says this is where she left Angel to be killed by the sunlight.<p>

"No ashes." Kendra says, pointing to the cage she must have locked him in.

"What?"

"When a vampire combusts, he leaves ashes." She tries to explain to me, but I know how this works, so I stop her there.

"Yeah, I know the drill."

"So I did not kill him."

"And I don't have to kill you." I fire back. She glares at me, like she's debating on whether or not I'm serious. I'm _so_ serious.

"Whoa there's a lot of tension in this room." Some guy says as he walks in. Kendra tackles him, roughs him up a bit, then slams him down on a table. She draws her fist back to punch him, but I catch her and pull her away.

"Doesn't anybody just say 'hello' where you come from?" I ask.

"Dis one is dirty. I can feel it."

"That's nice for you, percepto girl. But we're not going to get anything out of him if he's oh, say, unconscious." I snatch the guy away from Kendra and glare at him. "Where's Angel?"

"My bud, Angel? You think I'd let him fry? I saved him in the nick. He was about five minutes away from being a crispy critter."

I turn to glare at Kendra, who shrugs.

"Where did he go?" I ask, turning back to the guy. "Home?"

"Uh... He said he was gonna stay underground. You know, recuperate."

"Are you telling me the truth?" I ask, narrowing my eyes.

"I swear! I swear on my mother's grave should something fatal happen to her, god forbid."

"Den he is alright." Kendra says. "We can return to your Watcher for our orders."

"Orders? I don't take orders. I do things my way."

"No wonder you died." Kendra sighs, and I roll my eyes. There's a lot of eye-rolling, too.

"Let's go." I say, and Kendra and I start to leave.

"I have to ask if either of you girls has considered modeling." The guys asks just before we leave. We turn to look at him. "I got a friend with a camera. Strictly high-class nude work. Art photographs... but naked."

Kendra and I both look at him like he's some kind of idiot, but now I have the image in my mind...

_Whoa. Noooooo way... No way, José. There is no way I'm... No. Absolutely not. She's annoying as hell, and as soon as this is over, she's going back to wherever she came from._

"You don't have to answer right away." He says, shrugging nervously. Kendra and I look at him incredulously again, and it occurs to me that this is the first time we've actually agreed on something. I look over at her and see she's blushing. Then we leave.

* * *

><p>"Kendra, I've conferred with your Watcher, Mr. Zabuto. He and I agree that until this matter with Spike and Drusilla is resolved, you two should work together." Giles says.<p>

"Oh, that'll be a treat." I sigh. I don't think either of them heard me, though.

"So you believe dat Spike is attempting to revive dis Drusilla to heath?"

"Yes. That would be the dark power your Watcher referred to. Drusilla is not just evil. She's also quite mad. Restored to her full health, there is absolutely no telling what she might do." Giles confirms.

"Den we will stop Spike."

"Good plan! Let's go! Charge!" I shout.

"Buffy..." Giles warns.

"It's a little more complicated than that, okay, John Wayne?" I say to Kendra.

"Yes, I'm afraid it is." Giles agrees. "Spike has called out the Order of Taraka to keep Buffy out of the way."

"De assassins? I read of dem in de writings of Dramius."

"Really? Which volume?" Giles asks excitedly.

"I believe it was six, sir."

"How do you know that stuff?" I ask Kendra.

"From me studies." She responds.

"So... You have a lot of free time." I notice.

She rolls her eyes. Again, a lot of eye-rolling. "I study because it is required. De Slayer Handbook insists on it."

"There's a Slayer Handbook?" Willow asks. I almost forgot she was there.

"Handbook? What handbook? How come I didn't get a handbook?" I ask Giles.

"Is there a t-shirt, too? 'Cause that would be cool." Willow says. I smile at her.

"After meeting you, Buffy, I was quite sure the handbook would be of no use in your case." Giles explains, cleaning his glasses.

"What do you mean 'it would be of no use in my case'? What's wrong with my case?"

Giles ignores me, though, and turns back to Kendra.

"Kendra, perhaps you could show me the bit in Dramius six about the Order of Taraka. I must admit, I could never get through that book."

"Yes, it was difficult. All dose footnotes!" Giles and Kendra both laugh, and I roll my eyes looking at Willow, who grins in response.

"Hello and welcome to the planet pocket protector." I grumble.

"Oh, Buffy, Principal Snyder came snooping around for you." Giles says.

I groan. "Eesh, the career fair."

"You'd best make an appearance, I think."

"Right."

"Buffy is a student here?" Kendra asks.

"Yes."

"Right. Of course. I'd imagine she's a cheerleader, too." Kendra looks like she's daydreaming for a second before Giles replies.

"Actually, she gave up cheerleading. It's a funny story, really..." He grins, but the grin fades and he clears his throat as I glare at him. "Let's go find that book, shall we?" He drags Kendra away.

"Get a load of the She-Giles." I grumble.

"Creepy." Will agrees.

* * *

><p>I make my way over to the law enforcement booth at the career fair after I leave Willow to flirt with Oz. I write my name on the sign-in sheet, and the policewoman attending grabs the clip board, and everyone falls in line.<p>

"Listen up and answer when I call your name!" She shouts to us. "Buffy Summers!" She shouts.

"Here." I say, raising my hand. Then, all hell breaks loose.

The policewoman draws her gun and aims at me. Everyone scrambles for cover and I hit the ground as she fires one off.

I crawl around on the ground until I end up behind the obvious Tarakan assassin, and I trip her.

We roll around on the ground, wrestling for control of the gun, and I manage to disarm her. But then we stand up and she pulls another gun out of nowhere and aims right for my face.

Kendra appears out of nowhere and kicks the gun out of her hand. I take advantage of the distraction and tackle the assassin, but she throws me off, grabs a hostage, and aims for his chest.

"Don't!" I shout, and the assassin backs away until she's at the door, then throws the hostage to the ground and takes off running.

I notice Oz was shot, so I run over to him while Kendra goes after the assassin.

"He's... He's shot!" Willow says to me. "Are you okay?" She asks Oz.

"I'm shot... Wow... It's very... odd... And painful..." He says.

"She's gone." I look up to see Kendra hovering over me.

"Was that a demonstration?" The hostage kid asks.

* * *

><p>Luckily, Oz only got scraped, so no real damage was done. But one look at Kendra when Xander shows up shows something's up with her. She's all "flustered-girl".<p>

"Who sponsored Career Day today? The British Soccer Fan Association?" Xander quips.

"We had a rather violent visit from one of the Order of Taraka." Giles explains.

"You want to talk Order of Taraka? We met the king freak of the Order of..." Xander finally looks at Kendra.

"Oh. Forgive me." Giles says. "Xander, Cordelia, this is Kendra. It's very complicated, but she's also a Slayer."

"Hi. Nice to meet you." Cordy says as she sits down.

"A Slayer? I knew this 'I'm the only one, I'm the only one' thing was just an attention-getter." Xander says to me and I roll my eyes. Again with the eye-rolling. Seems someone's doing that every five seconds.

"Just say hello, Xander." I grin.

"Welcome. So, you're a Slayer, huh? I like that in a woman." He says, hitting on her.

"I... I hope... I thank you... I mean, sir... I will be of service..." Kendra replies, looking at the ground.

"Good... Great... It's good to be a giver..." Xander says, confused. He looks at me like "what's her deal?" and I just shrug.

"The assassin you encountered, Xander, what did he look like?" Giles asks.

"AAAAAHHH!" Cordy screams, pulling a worm out of her hair.

"Like that." Xander says, pointing to the worm.

"You and bug people, Xander. What's up with that?" I quip. Xander blushes.

"But this dude was different from the preying mantis lady!" He protests. "He was a man _of_ bugs, not a man who _was a bug_."

"Okay... Huh?" Will asks.

"The important thing is everybody's okay." Giles points out. "Still, it is quite apparent that we are under serious attack."

"Yeah." I agree. "These Taraka guys are Überbad. If Kendra hadn't been there today, I would have been toast." I look over at Kendra in thanks. She nods and smiles slightly. Then, for some reason, the visual that the guy from earlier gave me pops up in my head. The "nude modeling" image of Kendra and me. I blush again as I try to shove that memory down. No one else notices anything, though.

"I far the worst is yet to come." Giles mutters. "I've discovered the remaining keys to Drusilla's cure. The ritual requires her sire and must take place in a church on the night of the new moon."

"De new moon? But dat is tonight!" Kendra says.

"Exactly. I'm sure the assassins are here to kill Buffy before she can put a stop to things-" Me standing up suddenly makes everyone fall silent.

"They need Drusilla's sire? You mean the vamp that made her?"

"What is it, Buffy?" Willow asks.

"It... It's Angel... He's Drusilla's sire." I say.

"Man! That guy got some major neck in his day!" Willow hits Xander to shut him up.

"This thingy... This ritual... Will it kill him?" I ask Giles.

"I'm afraid so." He says softly.

"We have to do something. We have to find the church where this ritual takes place."

"Agreed. And we must work quickly. There are only five hours to sundown."

"Don't worry, Buffy. We'll save Angel." Willow says. I smile at her in gratitude.

"Angel? But our priority must be to stop Drusilla." Kendra protests.

"Look, you've got your priorities, and I've got mine. Right now, they mesh. You gonna work with me, or are you gonna get out of my way?"

Kendra hesitates. "I am with you." She says finally.

"Good. 'Cause I've had it. Spike is going down. You can attack me, you can send assassins after me, that's just fine. But nobody messes with my boyfriend." I notice that Kendra flinches when she hears me call Angel my boyfriend. She really needs to get over the "he's a vampire" thing. And fast.

* * *

><p>"And dose two... dey also know dat you are de Slayer?" Kendra asks, nodding towards Xander and Cordelia.<p>

"Yup." I answer, kind of distracted. Kendra and I haven't really been alone since we fought. Especially not after talking to that guy earlier. Come on, who asks two sixteen year old girls to try out _nude modeling_?!

"Did anyone explain to you what 'secret identity' means?" She quips. I can tell she's joking, but like I said, I'm distracted.

"Nope. Must be in the handbook. Right after the chapter on personality removal." I snap back. I didn't mean for it to be an attack, it just came out that way. Luckily, I think Kendra knows that. "Careful with that." I say when she picks up my crossbow.

"Please. I am an expert in all weapons." She assures me. Just as the crossbow fires a bolt through Giles' lamp. She yelps in surprize.

"Is everything alright?" Giles asks from the main part of the library.

"Yeah, it's okay!" I assure him, and I'm _really_ trying not to laugh. Kendra's reaction to that was priceless. "Kendra killed the bad lamp."

"Sorry..." Kendra winces. "De trigger mechanism is different." Then, the look in her eyes changes. It's familiar, but I can't quite figure out where I've seen it before. "Perhaps when dis is over, you can show me how to work it."

I nod. "When this is over, I'm thinking pineapple pizza and teen video fest. Possibly something from the Ringwald oeuvre."

"I'm not allowed to watch television. My Watcher says it promotes intellectual laziness."

"And he says it like it's a bad thing?" I joke.

Just then, we hear Xander and Cordy scream at each other. I was wondering how long it would take.

"De things you do and have, I was taught distract from my calling. Friends. School. Even family." She looks sad as she says this.

"What do you mean? Even family?"

"My parents... Dey sent me to my Watcher when I was very young."

"How young?"

"I don't remember dem, actually. I've seen pictures... But that's how seriously de calling is taken by me people. Me mother and father gave me to me Watcher because dey believed dat dey were ding de right thing for me, and for the world, you see?"

"Oh... I'm-"

"Please. I don't feel sorry for meself. Why should you?" She's shut down now.

"It just sounds very lonely." Suddenly, I really want her to open up to me.

"Emotions are weakness, Buffy. You shouldn't entertain dem."

"What? Kendra, my emotions give me power. They're total assets."

"Maybe. For you. But I prefer to keep an even mind."

I think for a minute as she starts polishing a knife. Then, an idea hits me.

"Huh. I guess that explains it."

"Explains what?"

"When we were fighting. You're amazing. Your technique. It's flawless. Better than mine."

"I know." She says, and I detect a hint of pride in her voice. Good. I'm getting to her.

"Still... I would have kicked your butt in the end. You know why? No imagination."

Now I see a bit of anger in her eyes as she starts polishing the knife a little rougher. It's definitely working now.

"Really? You think so?" She growls.

"Yep. You're good. But power alone isn't enough. A great fighter goes with the flow. She knows how to improvise. Don't get me wrong, I mean, you have potential-"

"Potential!" She growls, and stands up, slamming the knife down on the table. "I could wipe the floor with you right now."

"That would be anger you're feeling." I say calmly.

"What?" She's confused now, though the anger is still there.

"You feel that, right? How the anger gives you fire? A Slayer needs that."

"'Scuze me, ladies." Xander says as he comes in to get a book. I notice Kendra gets flustered as he enters again. "Nice knife." He says to Kendra, nodding towards the knife she was going back to polishing. Then he leaves.

"I guess dating isn't big with your Watcher, either?"

"I am not permitted to speak with boys." She explains.

"So no dating, huh? Dang. That sucks."

"It does not matter, anyway." She says. I'm afraid she's going to shut down again, so I act fast.

"Look, it doesn't really have to distract from being the Slayer or anything-"

"No, it is not dat, Buffy." Now I'm confused.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean... I... um... How would you say it?" She thinks for a minute... "Um... I... I have no interest in boys." She nods, certain that she's just explained in perfectly.

"What do you mean?" I ask again.

"I mean..." She thinks for a minute again, unsure of how to say it. "I... I am more interested in girls." She explains, and my eyes grow wide.

"Wait... what? You mean... You're... You're gay?"

"Gay? What does dis mean?" She looks confused now.

"Means a girl who like other girls, or a guy who likes other guys." I explain, still reeling over what I think Kendra is saying.

"Oh. Den yes. I suppose you could say dat I _am_... gay."

"Oh..." Now I'm _really _wigging. "That... That's cool..."

"Is something de matter, Buffy?"

"Oh. No... I'm just... surprized... that's all."

"I do not expect you to understand, Buffy. It is quite obvious dat you are not... gay... What with de way you act when anyone talks about Angelus."

"Yeah. Not gay. Not me. No way, no gay. I'm on the straight-and-narrow." I agree. Somehow, though, it feels like I'm lying. Like I'm trying to hide something. Then, I realize I didn't correct her when she called Angel 'Angelus'. Even though they're technically the same person, they _are_ different.

I have to deflect, though. "So. No talking to guys, huh?"

"No. I mean yes. I am confused. No, I am not allowed to talk to boys, or yes I am not allowed to speak to boys?"

"I guess both of them are acceptable." I smile, glad my deflection worked. "So, does that rule count when you're pummeling them?" I ask, thinking of the guy she was beating up earlier. Then, an idea hits me. "Wait a minute..."

"What?"

"That guy. The sleazoid you nearly decked in the bar."

"You think he might help us?"

"I think we might make him." I say, and we head out the door.

* * *

><p>"Honest! I don't know where Angel is!" The bar owner shouts as I slam him down on the counter.<p>

"How about this ritual tonight? What have you heard?"

"Nothing! It's all hush hush!"

"Just hit him, Buffy." Kendra says impatiently. I smirk.

"She likes to hit." I say to the owner, who shivers.

"You-you know, maybe I did hear something about this ritual. Yeah, it- it's coming back to me... But I'd... I'd have to take you there."

"Let's go." I say as I drag him out of the bar.

"First, let's return to de Watcher." Kendra suggests.

"Excuse me? While we run to Giles, the whole thing could go down!" I protest.

"But it is procedure-"

"It's brainless, you mean! If we don't go right now, Spike could revive Drusilla, and they'll _win_. We can't let that happen."

"Please, you're just doing dis for your boyfriend."

I fall silent. Actually, Angel hadn't been on my mind for a while now. Why am I more concerned with stopping Spike than saving Angel? I mean, sure, it's the same thing... but it's not the same thing.

"Buffy?" Kendra asks, curious.

"Yeah. I'm... I'm doing this for Angel... I... I need to save him."

"Buffy? Are you alright?"

"No I'm not." I admit. "Just... I have a lot on my mind, is all. Anyway, I'm going. With or without you."

"You're crazy. You'll be killed."

"Then I guess this is goodbye." I say. I look at her one more time before I drag Willy, that's the bar owner's name, out of the bar and into the night, leaving Kendra alone in the bar.

* * *

><p>"Here you go. Don't ever say your friend Willy don't come through in a pinch." Willy says to me as he leads me into a church.<p>

Out of nowhere, the bug guy that attacked Xander and Cordy, along with the policewoman from earlier and two vampires appear, surrounding me.

"Here you go." Willy says to the vampires. "Don't ever say your friend Willy don't come through in a pinch."

The bad guys all around me lead me into the main portion of the church. Damn. Lady Cop has a strong grip. Almost like she's a Slayer herself. But a bad guy.

"Pay day, pal. I got your Slayer." Willy says to Spike.

"Are you tripping?! You bring her here?! Now?!"

"You said you wanted her..."

"In the ground, pinhead! I wanted her _dead_!"

"Now, that's not what I heard. Word was, there was a bounty on her, dead or alive."

"You heard wrong, Willy." Spike sighs.

"Angel..." I say as I notice him and Drusilla tied together. Lights surround them, but then the lights die out, and Angel's skin turns an ashy grey as he disintegrates in front of me. Drusilla slumps down to the ground, unconscious.

"Too late, Slayer." Spike grins evilly. "If you'd only gotten here five minutes sooner... Angel would have gotten to watch me kill you."

He puts his game face on and advances on me just as the doors slam open. Giles and Xander burst into the room and fire two crossbow bolts, each bolt dusting one of Spike's vampire minions. Kendra walks in behind them and takes on the Lady Cop as Spike and I start fighting, and the worm guy goes after Cordy and Xander. Giles gets too close to Spike, and the bleached vampire knocks him out.

Spike throws a punch towards my gut, but I'm using every ounce of anger about Angel's death, and I catch his fist, crushing it. He pulls back, screaming in pain.

"Bloody fuckin' hell!" Spike yells, squeezing his fist. Just then, I hear a gunshot, and I turn to see Kendra hitting the ground, clutching her stomach. Lady Cop blows out the smoke from her small revolver, then holsters it and whips out two other guns, aiming at me.

I duck behind one of the pews, letting the bullets embed themselves in the wood. The place is starting to collapse, and I see why as I notice that Spike had set fire to the place before grabbing Drusilla and running. I grab a broken piece of wood and stand up quickly. The Lady Cop looks at me in surprize a second too long. I throw the piece of wood at her, and it hits her on the head, knocking her out.

I forget about her, though, as I run over to Kendra, who's lying on the floor, nearly unconscious.

"Kendra!" I shout, smacking her cheek to keep her awake.

"Buffy?"

"Yeah, it's me. Come on, let's get you to a hospital." I say.

"No need." She says. "It's not that bad."

"Kendra, she _shot _you!"

"It barely grazed me." She says, standing up. She lifts her shirt enough for me to see that it had, actually, barely grazed her. She'd twisted just in time for it to nick her in the stomach.

"But... you hit the ground, and..."

"I slipped." She explains, pointing to a smeared spot of blood on the ground. "And I hit me head on de ground pretty hard. I was clumsy, dat's all."

"Oh, thank god." I say, hugging her, just as Xander and Cordy are coming back Willow is waking Giles up.

"Buffy?" Kendra asks.

"Yeah?" I pull away slightly, blushing.

"I'm... uh... I'm sorry about... you know..."

Tears spring to my eyes as I realize I forgot about Angel. He's dead. _Really_ dead. Not just undead.

And seeing my tears, Kendra wraps me up in a hug. Even Xander and Cordelia touch my shoulders in comfort. And once Willow has Giles up, they, too, join in on comforting me.

* * *

><p>A couple days later, everything's starting to settle down a bit. It doesn't hurt nearly as much as I thought it would, knowing that Angel's dead. And... I know why. I just don't know if I can say it out loud. But, if I want Kendra to stay, I'm going to have to.<p>

So, I've made my plans. I'm walking Kendra out to the taxi cab right now, ready for the yellow car to take her away from me.

"Thank you for the shirt. It is very generous of you." She says.

"Oh, hey, it looks better on... well, me, but don't worry." I joke. We both smile.

"Now... When you get to the airport-"

"I get on de plane with me ticket. And sit in a seat. Not de cargo hold."

"Very good." I grin.

"Dat is _not_ traveling undercover." She points out.

"Exactly. Relax. You earned it. You sit. You eat the peanuts. You watch the movie, unless it's about a dog or Chevy Chase."

She laughs. "I'll remember."

"Thank you." I say, and she looks at me curiously. "For... at least trying to help me save Angel."

She looks at me compassionately. "I am sorry we could not get to him in time."

"Don't worry about it. You know... I'm not all that broken up about it, honestly... I mean, yeah, it hurts. But... it doesn't feel like I want to die or anything just to be with him."

She looks at me in surprize. "Why not?"

"Well... that's the thing... I'm not really sure how it happened... but... I don't think I'm really in love with him or anything anymore. In fact... I'm actually more upset that you're leaving than I am about Angel being dead."

"You are?" Her surprize grows even more.

"Yeah." I admit. "Um... look... Everything I said... about how you need to leave once this thing with Spike and Drusilla is settled... I didn't mean it... Or, actually, I did, but I don't... not now... I'd actually kind of... I mean, if you want to... I'd really like it if you'd stay here."

"Buffy?"

"I mean... We've only just started to get along... and... besides, if you'd stay, we could patrol together and stuff, and we could keep each other from dying, right? I mean, two Slayers are better than one, right?"

"I... I guess..."

"And if you'd stay... Giles isn't as strict as your Watcher... You could have fun here, and it wouldn't have to distract from being the Slayer. Actually, now that I think about it, having a social life seems to actually _cause_ more slaying-related issues than it makes you overlook, so you might actually be _busier_ being a Slayer than you're used to."

"Maybe..."

"And I... I just really want you to stay." I shift around on my feet. The cab driver honks his horn, letting her know that he's ready to go whenever she is.

"Why? Why do you want me to stay?"

"Well... I... I really like you, okay?" I blush, and I think she finally understands what I'm trying to say.

"Buffy?" She sighs.

"Well... I mean... No... I'm not going to cop out of this one. I like you, Kendra, like, in a romantic sense. And I've been wigging about it for days now, not sure if I should say anything, but you're fixing to be heading back to Jamaica, or wherever you're from, and I'm not sure if I'll ever see you again, and I just know that I'm going to regret not at least _trying_. Besides, you've already said you're gay, and... Look... Normally, dating would probably distract from Slaying... but... what if you're dating another Slayer? It's not like you'd have to keep that secret from me or anything. And we could actually _help_ each other with it, not hinder each other."

"But Buffy-..."

"And I assure you, I'm not just on the rebound. You're not the 'rebound girl' or anything. I just... I want to give this a shot... if you do..."

Kendra is silent for a while, then she glances over my shoulder, and I turn to see what she's looking at. Giles, Willow, Xander, and Cordelia are all standing right behind us, their mouths open in a stunned silence.

"Oh... uh... hi..." I say, and I'm instantly wigging. Luckily, and actually really surprisingly, Cordelia recovers first.

"Well?" She asks.

"Well what?" I ask nervously.

"No, not you." She says. She looks at Kendra, and we all flinch in surprize. "She asked you a question."

My eyebrows are raised, and suddenly, everyone's attention is on Kendra.

"Well, Kendra? Would you like to remain here in Sunnydale?" Giles asks.

"The world famous 'All-You-Can-Slay-Buffet'?" Xander jokes.

"You're welcome to stay, if you want. We could probably use your help, anyway." Willow points out.

"And anything to get Buffy back to dating people with a pulse." Xander adds, and I shoot a glare at him, but he does have a point.

I turn back to look at Kendra, hoping beyond hope she'll say yes.

"But Buffy..." She says, and my heart falls. "I don't even have any place to stay."

"Is that all that's keeping you from saying yes?" I ask.

"Pretty much." She admits.

"Well... I'd have to ask my mom first, but we've got a spare bedroom. Maybe you could stay in there." I suggest.

"And if she says no, you're more than welcome to come stay with me. Traditionally, Slayers live with their Watchers anyway. It should be an easy matter for me to get myself assigned as your official Watcher."

Kendra takes a deep breath. "Very well. I will stay." She agrees. I have to stop myself from squealing in excitement, and I throw my arms around her, hugging her tightly. She seems awkward at first, but then I feel her arms around me as well, and I close my eyes, savoring everything that is Kendra.

I pull back after a while and look back to see everyone actually smiling a bit. Willow glances over at Kendra, then back at me, as if urging me to do something, and I blush as I realize what she's talking about.

I look back at Kendra, and see that she's looking at me, and she looks like she's expecting it, too. So, I slowly lean in and press my lips against hers, and I feel her kiss me back.


	2. Ted

AN: From here on out, I'm going to have to edit things to insert parts for Kendra, of course. I'll also be giving some of the other characters' lines to her, so don't freak out if she says something that Willow, Xander, Buffy, or, god forbid, even Giles said in each actual episode. Each new chapter will be named after the episode it's based off of.

Chapter 2- Ted

"You don't know what you're talking about."

"Xander, he was obviously in charge." Willow says, exasperatedly.

"He was a puppet! She was using him!" Xander protests.

"He didn't seem like the type of person who would let himself be used."

"Well, that was her genius! He didn't even know he was playing second fiddle!" Xander turns to me. Me, who have fallen behind Willow and Xander due to lots of Kendra kissage. "Buffy?" Xander asks, clearing his throat.

"Huh?" I ask as I pull away from my girlfriend. Heh. Kendra's my girlfriend.

"Who was the real power?" Xander asks. "The Captain, or Tennille?"

"Ummmmm..."

"Who are dese people?" Kendra asks, curiously. A confusion I share in.

"The Captain and Tennille? Boy, somebody was raised in a culture-free environment!"

"I'm sorry." Kendra apologizes. "I was just..."

"It's okay, Kendra." I assure her with a smile. "He was just teasing."

She smiles back and kisses me again. I can't get enough of her kisses. It's short but sweet. When we pull away, my mind is completely blank. It feels nice to stop thinking.

"Buffy!" Willow says, and I snap out of my thoughtlessness.

"What?"

"What's going on?" Xander asks.

"Sorry. I was just..."

"Thinking?" Willow asks.

"No. Not thinking. Having a lot of happy non-thoughts. I love it when things are quiet around here." I say, pointing to my head, but Xander takes it to mean around Sunnydale. Though, I love it when things are quiet on the Hellmouth, too.

"Yeah, with Spike and Drusilla... who knows where... we've really been ridin' the mellow, and I am jinxing the hell out of us by saying that." He mentally facepalms.

"Yes. But I think we will let you off dis time." Kendra laughs. She's really opened up a lot and embraced having a semi-normal life in the past week. Of course, a lot of that has to do with me, but still. I like this new Kendra. Not all work, no play anymore. Now she's more on my level.

"So we're pretty sure there's not more Tarakan assassins coming our way?" Willow asks as we turn down the walkway to my house. The house that Kendra's now living in as well. My mom was more than willing to let her stay with us. She's cool like that. Always wanting to help someone in need.

"Giles' less than human sources say the contract's off. Spike and Drusilla only wanted them to hold me off until the ritual could be completed, so apparently, they paid up, and the job's done." I say.

"How are you holding up?" Will asks. Everyone knows she's talking about Angel.

"I'm doing good." I say, and it's the truth. "It hurts. A lot. Knowing I'll never see him again. But I don't feel like I'm about to burst at the seams all the time. Kendra's been great." I say, turning to my girlfriend and smiling. She smiles back and kisses me again, and Xander has to clear his throat again to break us up. "Xander..." I growl playfully.

I reach in my pocket to get my key out to unlock the door, but when I try to put my key in the keyhole, the door swings open easily.

"You guys wait here a second." I say to Will and Xander. Kendra follows me inside, both of us stakes at the ready.

"No!" I hear my mom say from the kitchen. I look at Kendra, and she nods to me.

We burst into the dining room to see the most horrifying thing I've ever seen in my life, even as a Slayer.

My mom's sitting up on the counter top, legs wrapped around some guy, and they're _kissing_!

"Mom!" I shout, getting their attention

"Oh, my... I'm sorry... I... I heard..." I stammer in disbelief, and Kendra looks down at the ground in shame.

"Uh... I-I-I broke a wineglass." My mom stutters as she slides down off the counter awkwardly. "You're home early."

"Hi." The guy says nervously.

"Hi." I say.

"Hi." Kendra says, too.

"Oh!" My mom says to the guy. "Uh, this is my daughter Buffy... and her... her girlfriend, Kendra." She points to each of us in turn. "Girls... this is Ted."

We just stare back at the guy.

* * *

><p>We're all sitting around the kitchen while Ted cooks. Willow and Xander were invited to stay for dinner. Already, I don't like this guy. He gives me major wiggins.<p>

"Okay, here we go!" He says as he slides mini-pizzas into the oven. My mom dumps the remnants of the broken wineglass into the trashcan.

"So... All these late nights at the gallery recently... I gather you were cataloging more than art." I say to her.

"Well, I... I've been looking for the right moment to introduce you two. He's a wonderful man." She has stars in her eyes, something I've missed seeing ever since long before the divorce.

I look over to Ted, wondering what's so special about him that can make my mom get all goo-goo eyed at him.

"Sprinkle that on." he says to Xander, sprinkling something on his pizza.

"Uh, a little more." Xander says when Ted tries to pull away. "Okay, more."

"How'd you meet?" I ask mom.

"Oh, he sells, uh, computer software. He redid my entire system at the gallery, freed up a lot of my time."

"To meet new people. And smooch them in my kitchen."

"You weren't supposed to see that." mom blushes.

"Y'know," Xander says as Mom and I come back into the kitchen, "you should market these things. I mean, you can get two, three hundred bucks apiece!"

Ted laughs and slides the mini-pizzas over to me. "Hungry?" He asks.

"No thanks." I say softly. Kendra looks at me sympathetically.

"Buffy, I want to apologize. That wasn't how I wanted us to meet. I wanted it to be... perfect. I'm very fond of your mother, I guess that's pretty obvious. I know you're the most important thing in her life, and, well, gosh, that makes you pretty important to me, too."

"Buffy, I really want you to be okay with this." Mom says, wrapping her arms around Ted, who embraces her back.

"I'm okay." I smile. I'm definitely _not_ okay. But, you know, Kendra wrapping her arms around me and resting her chin on my shoulder definitely helps. I sigh into the embrace, squeezing her arms gratefully.

But, of course, I see Ted kind of glare at us at the show of affection. But, if he's allowed to smooch my mom in my kitchen, then I'm allowed to hug my girlfriend. It's not like I'm about to tear her clothes off and have sex with her on the counter, no matter how much I'm sure Xander would appreciate that.

* * *

><p>I slam the vampire down on the picnic table in the park, shattering it. The table, not the vampire. I'm not quite done with him yet. He shakes it off as he gets back up and charges me. I grab the lid from a trashcan and use it as a shield. His fist slams into it, then I swing it around and bash him in the head. He falls down on his knee and gets back up. I slam him again, and he gets up again. I slam him one more time, and barely hear Giles stammering, "Buffy? I-I believe he's... um..."<p>

I slam him with the lid again, and he absorbs the attack, then swings a fist at me. I block the fist again with my shield, then counter with another head slam. I'm enjoying this. I block another punch then throw the lid away and kick the vamp in the face.

"Buffy, dontcha think it's staking time?" Kendra asks, almost nervously.

I kick him again,ignoring both Giles and Kendra, then punch him in the jaw. The vampire, not Giles. I jab him again in the face, then kick his knee, causing him to crumple to the ground. I stake him almost reluctantly. I was having fun with him.

"Any others?" I ask Kendra and Giles when the vamp is dust on the ground.

"I actually hope not. For their sakes." Kendra says. I raise my eyebrows.

"What? I kill vampires. That's my job."

"Well, true, although you don't usually beat them into quite such a bloody pulp beforehand." Giles points out, and I shrug. "Everything alright?"

"Yeah. Fine." I lie. I sigh, sitting down next to Giles. "I killed a vampire here on Wednesday. Why are they hanging out here at the park?"

"Well, they're scattered, you know. Now their leaders have disappeared, with any luck, dead by some means. In times of crisis, they usually return to the easiest feeding grounds." Giles explains.

"Vampires are creeps."

I think dat's why we slay dem." Kendra agrees. I smile up at her, and crane my neck to kiss her gently.

But, my mind is still elsewhere.

"I mean, people are perfectly happy getting along, and then vampires come, and they run around, and they kill people, and they take over your whole house, they start making these stupid little mini-pizzas, and everyone's like 'I like your mini-pizzas', but I'm telling you, I am-"

"Uh, uh, Buffy! I-I believe the... subtext is quickly becoming, uh, well, text. Are... Are you sure there's nothing you want to share?"

"Ms. Summers has a new boyfriend." Kendra explains. Giles sighs.

"And this bothers you, does it?" He asks me.

"No. Forget it." I say. I stand back up and look around. "Think there'll be any more? I-I can wait."

* * *

><p>Kendra and I are laying on my bed in my room, kissing. Until, that is, I pull away, exasperated.<p>

"So mom's like, 'Do you think Ted will like this?' and 'This is Ted's favorite show,' and 'Ted's teaching me computers,' and 'Ted said the funniest thing,' and I'm like, 'That's really great, Mom,' and then she said I was being sarcastic, which I was, but I'm sorry if I don't wanna talk about Ted all the time!"

"So den, you're going to talk about something else, den?" Kendra says, teasingly.

"I'm sorry. I just have so much to deal with, I don't need some new guy in my life."

"No, but maybe she does." She smiles, and I can't help but smile back.

"Well sure, if you're gonna use wisdom."

She laughs quietly. "Loneliness is just about the scariest thing dere is. It took me long to figure dat out, but I finally realize it meself."

"Okay, so my mom needs a guy in her life. Does it have to be Ted?"

"Doe ya have somebody else in mind? Is dere a guy out dere dat would satisfy you?"

I hesitate. I know what she's getting at. "My dad? Yeah, okay, that's not gonna happen. Fine, fine, I'll give Ted a chance. I'll play mini-golf, and I'll smile and curtsy and be the dutiful daughter. Do I have to like him?"

Kendra smiles and leans into me. I love how she takes the initiative to kiss me. I never thought I'd ever be attracted to a girl, but here I am, falling more and more in love with Kendra every day.

* * *

><p>"Ah, the dreaded five-par cuckoo clock. Ha! So many have come, so few have conquered." Xander says as he tees up and gets ready to shoot. Then, he shoots. A very weak shot.<p>

"You know how rare it is to find a man who cooks?" Mom asks Ted.

"I know!" He replies humorously. "I've been looking for a long time! So, Buffy, I bet the boys are lined up around the block tryin' to get a date with you."

"Not really." I reply.

"Oh, they are, but she's only interested in..." I nudge Willow to shut her up, "uh, her studies! 'Book-cracker' Buffy, it's kind of her nickname."

"Well, glad to hear it. I bet that means your grades will be picking up soon." Ted says meaningfully.

"My grades? How does he know about my grades?" I ask my mom.

"I told him. He wants to know everything about you. He's concerned. That's a good thing." She says as Ted makes his swing. "Ooo, nice shot, Ted!"

I stead up to make my swing at a new course with a castle on it.

"Keep your eye on the ball and watch those elbows!" Ted suggests, and I lose my temper.

_Who does he think he is?! Looking at my grades?! Trying to tell me what to do?! He's not my father!_

I swing too roughly, and the ball bounces off the castle and into the rough on the other side.

"Oh, bad luck little lady." Ted says.

"Oh, we won't count it." Mom says with a smile.

"We won't?"

Everyone turns to look at Ted.

"Well, honey, it's just miniature golf."

"It is, but the rules are the rules. And what we teach her is what she takes out into the world when we're not there, whether it's at school, or at an unchaperoned party." He counters, and my rage grows with each word. "I don't mean to overstep my bounds, this is between you and your mother, I just think right is right." He says to me.

Mom looks at me nervously, and I look into Kendra's eyes like "see? told you so?".

"He has a point." Mom agrees with Ted.

"Fine. I'll just... go hit my ball from the rough." I say noncommittedly.

I walk around where no one can see me, and I pick my ball up and drop it in the hole.

"He, how 'bout that! Got a hole in two!" I shout to everyone.

"Beg to differ." I turn to see Ted glaring at me.

"Okay, so fine my score. Whatever." I say.

"I think you're missing the point here, little lady. Right is right, wrong is wrong. Why don't people see that?"

"It's just a game." I growl back.

"Right. It's just a game. Do your own thing. Well, I'm not wired that way. And I am here to tell you..." He starts hitting his ankle with his club _really_ hard, "It is _not_ a game. It _does_ count. And I _don't_ stand for that kind of malarkey in _my_ house!"

"Then I guess it's a good thing I'm _not_ in _your_ house." I fire back.

"Do you want me to slap that smart-ass mouth of yours?!"

I look around to see if anyone heard that. I can't believe this son of a bitch just _threatened _me!

"Who's up for desert?" He asks cheerfully.

_What's up with Captain Mood-swing?_

"I made chocolate-chip cookies!" Ted says with a smile as Mom opens the bag of cookies.

"Yummy!" Xander says as he takes a bite out of one.

"Cookies!" Willow says, equally excited.

I notice Kendra's being more supportive of me. I think she agrees that something seems... _off_ about Ted. So, she's turning down the cookies politely.

"Yeah! I-I made, uh, too many. So you guys are gonna have to take some home!" He says to Will and Xander.

"Mm! Buffy! You've _got_ to try one of these! They're really good! Mm!" Mom says, moaning with each bite. I swear, she sounds like an extremely bad porno made for children with that cookie.

The whole time, I just stare at everyone, seething at Ted.

* * *

><p>"Good morning sunshine!" Mom says, chipper.<p>

"Hey." I say.

"Good morning, Ms. Summers." Kendra says as she follows me down the stairs.

"Kendra, please, feel free to call me Joyce. Or mom, if you'd prefer. I mean, you're living with us, after all!" My mom laughs, and Kendra laughs back. How are they _both_ morning people?"

"I've got juice, I've got sticky buns, oh, don't they smell good!" My mom says, motioning to the spread of breakfast laid out.

I smile, seeing Ted isn't here. I pick up a bun. They _do_ look good.

"Ted made them." Mom says, and I freeze, then put the bun back down. Hearing this, Kendra puts hers down, too.

"What?" Mom asks us. I can tell she's getting mad already, but I really don't care right now.

"I'm just allergic to honey." Kendra explains, washing her hands in the sink and making a point of sanitizing them, then taking some allergy medicine. Mom accepts this, but glares at me.

"I'd just like to eat something around here that Ted didn't make." I say.

"What kind of attitude is that?"

I breathe in deeply, then exhale, trying to keep calm, though even the _mention_ of Ted has me seething now. "Look, Mom, I know you think he's great and all, but I-"

"Y'know, he went out of his way to be nice to you, and you couldn't say too words to him on Saturday. I do _not_ expect you to love him right away like I do, but I _do_ expect you to treat him decently." Kendra and I both freeze at the mention of the "L-word". That's something even we haven't said to each other yet.

"You love him?" I ask quietly.

"I-I-I don't know." Mom stutters. "That just slipped out. But I guess, I mean, it's not exactly like men beat down the door when you're a single-"

"When you're a single parent." I finish.

"Honey, look. I wouldn't have anything to do with _anybody_ if they didn't care about you. But he does! I don't understand why you can't see that!"

"He threatened me." I say softly.

"What?!" Mom asks incredulously. I especially have Kendra's attention now. Her eyes have flames in them.

"He threatened me. He said he was gonna slap my face."

"He said no such thing! Honey, Ted told me what happened! He caught you cheating, didn't he?"

"Yeah, I kicked my ball in, throw me in jail! But he totally wigged!"

"He didn't say anything in front of the others, did he?"

"No, but I don't think that's the-"

"Well I thought that was pretty decent of him! Ted said we are just going to have to give you time to come around. Oh, speaking of which, he's making dinner for us tonight, so I'd like you at home, please, _promptly_ at six."

"Maybe I should go to a movie tonight." Kendra suggests. "Don't want to intrude on anything."

"That might be a good idea." Mom agrees.

"No." I say, and they both look at me.

"Buffy?" Mom asks.

"No. Mom, if _Ted_ is coming over tonight, and I have to watch you two being all 'old-married-couple', then I get to have my girlfriend here. I'll come. I'll be a good girl. I'll listen to Ted, and I won't give him a hard time or anything. But I get to have Kendra there."

Kendra looks back and forth between us hesitantly as we stare into each other's eyes. But I know I've won already. My mom always listens to reason, and I think that this is all pretty fair.

"Alright, Buffy. Kendra, you live here, too, I'm not going to ask you to leave just so that Ted and I can sit down with Buffy at dinner alone. And Buffy does have a point. Please, if you want to stay for dinner, then by all means. I'll just call and tell Ted that I'll be setting the table for four."

"Thank you." I say politely. Then, I grab Kendra by the arm, and we leave for school.

* * *

><p>"Will, I'm not wrong here." I say after Xander leaves for some reason. I just asked her to check into Ted, see what his deal is. "Ted has a problem with me. He acts like I'm in the way or something. ANd Mom's been totally different since he's been around."<p>

"Different... like happy?"

"Like Stepford." I emphasize. "Will you help me?"

"You know I will. What do you want me to look for?"

"Let's start small, can you find out where he works?" Will nods.

"Ya want me to come with ya?" Kendra asks as Willow starts typing.

"No. This is something I need to do myself." I say. Kendra nods, understanding.

* * *

><p>"Yeah, i-i-it's a terrific product. No PC should be without it." The guy next to Ted says into his phone.<p>

"No, Mrs. Lawnsdale, it is _not_ an inexpensive piece of software." Ted says to his customer. I notice they're both taking two totally different approaches to selling stuff. "As a matter of fact, it's a very _expensive_ one. Which removes the risk of crashing your whole system. Of course, if you prefer something cheap, I can always recommend... Trust me, you won't be sorry. Thank you very much."

Ted sets his headset down and I duck down behind a snack bar. I see Ted put another hash mark by his name on a marker board. Wow, this guy is a _salesman_!

"Goin' to lunch!" Ted calls out, then walks out the door.

"You're new, aren't ya?" The guy sitting next to Ted says to me.

"Oh..."

"I'm Neal." He says, pouring a cup of coffee.

"I'm B... Linda. Belinda. I'm just temping for the day." I look back at the board, acting impressed. "Wow. That guy's a salesman. I guess he's the one to beat around here."

"Nobody beats 'The Machine'. The guy's a genius. Knows everything about computers, never loses a client... If I sound bitter, I am."

"Well, nobody likes an overachiever. Uh, he's probably got ex-wives and, and families to support."

"Nah. He's just got a girlfriend. I'm amazed he let her clutter his desk."

I look over at Ted's desk and see one single, solitary photo on his desk. Nothing else.

"Thank god he's taking time off for the wedding."

"Wedding?" I ask, panicking.

"Yeah, he's got it set for two months from now. Believe me, I am counting the days." He chuckles, then looks like he's panicking himself. "Uh-oh. The über-boss. Back to the salt mines." He says, returning to his desk. I recognize the photo on Ted's desk. It's the one from the refrigerator back at home. Of me and my mom. Only, the "me" part is folded back.

* * *

><p>"We thank you for what we are about to receive, and we ask that you bless this house, and help the people in it to be more productive, more considerate, and more honest. Amen."<p>

"Amen." Mom says when Ted finishes his prayer. I just glare at them both, and Kendra squeezes my hand encouragingly. I told her already what I'd found out.

"Well, another great day at work!" Ted says cheerfully. "How was school today, Buffy? Did you learn anything?"

"Quite a bit."

"Good for you! Well, Joycie, what do you think?"

"I think every home should have one of you. It's fantastic!" Mom turns to me and Kendra. "Don't you think?"

"Looks good." I say.

"Yes." Kendra agrees, smiling at Ted, but only to be polite. She starts eating, but I haven't touched my food yet.

"Well you know, little lady, it's not just for looks, it's for building strong bodies." Ted says to me.

"Dis is very good!" Kendra exclaims from beside me, and I jump in my seat.

_Great, now he's won _my_ girlfriend over!_

"Honey?" Mom says, looking at me.

"Are you two engaged?" I ask my mom and Ted. Kendra freezes, swallows what's in her mouth, and excuses herself, touching my shoulder reassuringly.

"Goodness no!" My mom says. "Whatever gave you that idea?" Gret, now my mom sounds like some old housewife from those 50s sitcoms or whatever where what the dad says is law, and the wife is just one of those mindless slaves.

"Now Joycie, let me handle this." Ted says.

_And now he's treating her like one! And she's_ listening_!_

"Buffy, your mother and I are taking it one step at a time. And if things go the way I hope, maybe someday soon, I might just ask her to tie the knot. How would you feel about that?" I don't answer right away. "It's okay to have feelings, Buffy. And it's okay to express them."

"I'd feel like killing myself." I reply. He doesn't flinch.

"Buffy!" My mom shouts.

"No, no. I, I told her to be honest." He says, and his words seem to placate my mother slightly. "Sweetheart, you should try to get used to me, 'cause you know what? I'm not going anywhere."

"May I be excused." I ask my mom.

"You can go to your room, young lady, that's where you can go." She replies. "And not Kendra's room, _your _ room."

I get up and leave without another word.

* * *

><p>"Vampires..." I call out longingly. I really want to pummel some right now. "Here, vampires..."<p>

It's been almost an hour since I left, and no vampires have popped up. So, frustrated, I head home, climbing back up into my room through my window.

"What are you doing in here?" I growl when I see Ted sitting in a chair in my room.

"Your mother told you to go to your room, Buffy. You and I both know she didn't mean climb out a window and go gallivanting about town." He growls in reply.

"First of all, this is _my_ room. Second..." I look at my desk and see that he's pulled out my diary and all my Slayer equipment. "You've been going through my things?!"

"Yes, I have." He admits nonchalantly, like it was no big deal.

"That's my _personal_ property! How _dare_ you?!"

"I don't see how it's any different from you snooping around my office, do you?" He picks up my diary and reads it. I'm not seeing red. I'm _beyond_ seeing red. I'm seeing black and blue. All over Ted's face and body. In the form of bruises and swelling from where I'm going to beat the shit out of him. "What exactly _is_ a Vampire Slayer?"

"It's none of your business." I growl.

"Beg to differ, little lady. Everything you do is nothing _but_ my business from now on."

"I think you better get out of here. Now!"

"Or what?" He asks, standing up and walking towards me. "You'll _slay_ me? I'm real. I'm not some goblin you made up in your little diary. Psychiatrists have a word for something like this: delusional. So, from now on, you'll do what I say, when I say, or I show _this..._" He holds my diary up, "to your mother, and you'll spend your best dating years behind the wall of a mental institution. Your mother and I are going to be happy. You're _not_ going to stand in the way. Sleep tight!" He says, turning to leave my room.

"That's mine, and you are _not_ leaving this room with it!" I growl, grabbing his wrist.

"Take your hand off me."

"No."

Ted slaps me hard, and I hit the wall. That actually hurt.

"Oh... I was _so_ hoping you'd do that." I say softly.

"Buffy, don't!" I turn to see Kendra standing in the hall.

"Kendra, you saw that, didn't you?"

"Of course."

"Good. Then I have a witness." I turn back to Ted and punch him in the face. He stumbles back into my door, then rights himself and backhands me. I fall against my bed and crumple to the floor. He tries to pick me up by my collar, but I kick his shin, then elbow him in the face. just as my mom shows up in the doorway.

"Buffy! Stop that! Stop it!" She's screaming at me. He pushes me away, and I see a dark blur behind him as Kendra knees him in the back, sending him toppling to the floor. He gets back up and pushes Kendra away gently. He needs to behave in front of my mom. I don't.

I kick him in the chest, and he flies back into the hallway, sailing right past my mom. I follow him and punch him in the face again.

"Buffy, stop!" Kendra shouts after me. "You'll hurt him!"

I kick him again when he's regained his balance at the end of the hall. Unfortunately, my kick sends him rolling down the stairs. He hits the ground, and his body looks broken and battered, and he's not moving. I'm paralyzed. What did I just do?

Kendra's behind me, her hand on my shoulder, both wary and reassuring. My mom ran down the stairs and knelt by Ted.

"Ted..." She says softly. My heart has stopped beating. "Ted! Ted!" She cries hysterically. Kendra squeezes my shoulder, and pain shoots down my arm at the strength of her grip, but I barely notice it. "You killed him!" My mom cries.

I stare down at Ted's limp, lifeless body, not believing... refusing to believe... that I just killed him.

* * *

><p>"Ma'am, I'm Detective Stein. I'm sorry, but I need to ask you a few questions. Your relationship with the deceased?" The detective asks my mom as the coroners wheel Ted's body out of the house.<p>

"We were, uh, seeing each other." My mom sounds numb. I feel numb. Nothing seems right. I hated Ted, I'll admit that. I wanted to beat the crap out of him for taking my mom away from me, for trying to take my dad's place, for threatening me, for hitting me, for so obviously despising Kendra just because we were in a relationship with each other. But I never wanted him to _die._ I especially never wanted to _kill_ him.

"Can you tell me what happened?" Detective Stein asks.

"He fell. Down the stairs. He fell." My mom says, and I can't believe she's covering for me. I just killed her boyfriend, and she's still covering for me.

"I see. Uh, did he slip? Do you know what made him fall?"

"I hit him." I answer, and everyone looks at me. "I hit him." I say again, still not really understanding what happened.

* * *

><p>"He was in my room. And we got into an argument." I explain to the detective. It's just me, Mom, and Detective Stein. Kendra's being questioned somewhere else as another witness. I wish she was the one beside me, not Mom. Mom refuses to even look at me right now.<p>

"About what?"

"He, um..." I trail off.

"Was this the first time that you two had had an argument?"

"No. He threatened me. He... He said he would slap me."

"That was tonight?"

"No. But he had my diary. And I-I tried to take it back, a-and that's when he hit me."

"Where?"

I point to my cheek, which obviously is clear, due to my Slayer abilities.

"Well, it doesn't look like he hit you very hard."

"I don't bruise easily."

"So you've been hit before?"

"Yes."

"But Ted never hit you?"

"I told you-"

"Before tonight, Ted never hit you before tonight?"

"What do you want?" I ask, feeling helpless. "I-I told you what happened, I didn't mean to!"

"I believe you." He says softly, and I feel like he's telling the truth. "Things get out of hand. He's a big guy."

"Are you charging her with something?" Mom asks, exasperatedly.

"We're not bringing anything up against your daughter right now. She says Mr. Buchanan struck her, and if that's the case... Anyway, we've got to examine it further. Right now, I think you should just take her home and the two of you should get some rest."

"Three." I say.

"Excuse me?"

"There are three of us. My, um... My girlfriend... She lives with us..."

"Well, in any case, it would be best for everyone to go home and rest. If we need anything else, we'll call beforehand, let you know whether we'll show up at your house or if you need to come into the precinct."

"Thank you, officer." Mom says. We wait for Kendra to get out of her interview, then the three of us go home.

* * *

><p>"Buffy!" Xander calls as he and Willow climb up the steps to the couches. Kendra's sitting right next to me, holding my hand, occasionally squeezing it, trying her damnedest to comfort me. "Are you okay?" Xander asks.<p>

"How come you're here?" Willow asks.

"I couldn't stay home." I say softly, fighting back tears as I say, "Mom won't even look at me."

"What happened? U-unless you don't want to talk about it?"

"We had a fight and I lost my temper. I really let him have it." Kendra squeezes my hand again.

"The paper said he fell."

"He fell." I agree. "Hard."

"What was he?" Xander asks.

"What?"

"What was he? A-a demon? A giant bug? Some kind of dark god with the secrets of nouvelle cuisine? I mean, we _are_ talking creature-feature here, right?"

I meet Xander's eyes for a second, then look down at the floor as a tear rolls down my cheek, and I don't need to answer as I feel everyone's hearts drop.

"Oh man..." Xander all but whispers.

"But I'm sure it wasn't your fault!" Willow protests. "He started it!"

"Yeah. That defense only works in six-year-old court, Will."

"Court? Wa-wait... Are they charging you with something?"

I shake my head slightly. "I... I don't know yet..." I keep my eyes on the floor as I continue. "He... He was a person, and I killed him."

"Don't say dat." Kendra says.

"Why not? Everyone else is. And it's the truth."

"It was an accident."

"I'm the Slayer. I had no right to hit him like that."

"Look, Buffy..." Xander says. "I don't know what happened, exactly. But I do know you. And I know that you would _never_ hurt anyone intentionally. Well, you know, unless-"

"Unless they were dating my mother?" Xander can't answer that. "I gotta go." I say, standing and running away. None of them, not even Kendra, follow me.

* * *

><p>"Can I help?" I ask my mom, who's packing away pots and pans.<p>

"It's done." she snaps. "I've been meaning to clean this junk out for months. Do you, uh, have homework?"

"I didn't mean to hurt him." I whisper.

"I don't wanna talk about this."

"Mom, please, you have to know-"

"I can't. Not yet. Please, Buffy, just... Just go to your room."

I run from the room, up the stairs, trying hard not to cry. I get to the top of the steps and look back down at the ground, where Ted's body had been only last night. After I killed him.

I actually think about throwing myself down the steps right now. I deserve it, don't I? I took a human life. It should only be fair that I meet the same fate, right?

The only things that keep me from throwing myself down the steps right now is a) the knowledge that I'd survive it, anyway, due to my Slayer strength making suicide much, much more difficult, and b) the thought that I can't hurt my mom any more than I have. The only thing that'll hurt her worse than losing the man she loved is losing me. I can't do that to her.

I look at my door, thinking for a minute. But no, I need to talk to someone, and Kendra's door is open slightly. She prefers the light of candles to the light of electric lights, to the flickering lights cast a warm glow through the crack around the doorway. An inviting glow.

So, instead, I go into her room, and find her meditating on her bed.

I watch her for a few minutes before she notices me, and she stands up, pulling me inside.

"Sorry. I... I didn't mean to-"

"It's okay, Buffy. I understand." She has me sit down on her bed, and she closes her door. She sits down next to me and puts her arms around my shoulders, pulling me into her, hugging me tightly. I let it all out, sobbing into her shoulder, drenching her shirt and hugging her tighter and tighter with each second. If she'd been a normal human, I'd have broken her ribs by now, but she just takes the bone-crushing hug and returns it.

* * *

><p>It must have been ten at night before I finally woke up in Kendra's bed and left quietly, not wanting to wake her up. Now, I'm sitting at my desk in my room, facing inwards. I hear the floorboards creak outside my room, so I call out.<p>

"Mom?" No one answers, so I breathe out. "The hell with this." I get up and walk over to my window, trying to go outside and get in some slayage. But the window won't budge. I look around the windowsill, and see that she'd nailed it shut.

"She nailed it shut. Well, it's official. This day _can't_ get any worse."

"Beg to differ." Ted says behind me, and I whip around, startled.

"You... You died." I say, scared.

"That's right, little lady, you killed me. Do we have something to say about that? Are we sorry?"

"What are you?" I whimper.

"I'm a salesman! That's what you should've remembered. No matter how you put him down..." He picks me up and throws me across the room, "a good salesman always bounces back!" I crash into my desk chair, hurting all over.

I get back up and kick him in the gut, following through with a left cross to the jaw. He flinches, but doesn't appear to be fazed. I punch him twice in the stomach again, then another to the face, but he still doesn't back off. He grabs me by the throat and slams me against the wall.

"You see, I had to shut down for a while to get you off my back. You should've seen the intern's face when I got up off the table, it was a hoot! Fun's over, though." His iron-like grip tightens around my throat, cutting off my air.

I reach desperately for a weapon of any kind on my dresser, and find a nail file. I stab his arm with it, and he pulls back, opening a long gash on his arm. I fall to the ground, coughing.

"That wasn't playing fair, missy." He scolds me like a three-year-old. I look up at his wound and see wires and bits of metal sticking out.

"You're gonna find..." His head jerks to the side suddenly. "Hell of a day! Makes you feel like you're eighteen again!" His head jerks back like nothing had happened. "... that I don't like being disobeyed!"

He kicks me in the jaw suddenly, and my world goes black.

* * *

><p>I'm shook awake what seems like only seconds after I was knocked out by the Terminator, and I look up into Kendra's eyes.<p>

"Kendra?" I ask.

"I heard de commotion, and came in to find you on de ground, out cold. What happened?"

"It's Ted. He's alive. Kind of..."

"What do ya mean, "kind of"? Vampire?"

"No, but he's not human. He's some kind of robot."

She grins. "Robot, eh? Then that means ya never killed anything at all, Buffy." I smile at the sudden realization, too.

"I guess not." Then, another realization hits me as I hear my mom scream just downstairs, then a thud. Kendra and I spring to our feet and run towards the stairs. I see my mom on the ground, unconscious.

The stairs creak under my weight, and Ted looks up at us. We're still in the shadows, so he can't actually see us, but he does know we're here.

"Buffy, come out! And bring your silly little freak of nature _girlfriend_ with you! I don't stand for this kind of malarkey in my house!"

"Uncle Teddy?" I quip, then slam him in the face with one of the cast-iron skillets from the box Mom was carrying. "This house is _mine_!" I growl. Ted rols around, and some of the "skin" on his face peels off, revealing dented circuitry.

"Buffy? How about a nice game of Parcheesi?" He asks cheerfully.

I raise the pan again and slam it down on his head again. He falls backward and writhes on the floor for a minute before he shorts out.

* * *

><p>Mom and I are sitting on the front porch, peacefully. Apparently, Xander, Cordy and Willow found four bodies hidden in Ted's apartment, so my mom isn't mad at me killing him. Then again, she saw him, so she knows I didn't actually kill him. But since I couldn't tell her he was a robot, because that would lead to me talking about me and Kendra being Slayers, and that's a convo I hope I never have to have with her.<p>

So, we're sitting alone on the front porch, just talking.

"Do you want to rent a movie tonight?" She asks.

"Sound fun." I agree.

"Just nothing with horror in it. Or romance. Or men."

I laugh as I say, "I guess we're 'Thelma and Louise'ing it again."

"Mm-hmm. Good call." She sighs. "I still think he's gonna jump out at me. Especially after what was found in his house. It's just too horrible."

"I wouldn't worry. He's not coming back."

"I wish I could be so sure."

"Trust me. He's on the scrap heap..." I quickly come up with something because of the look I get, "... of life."

She nods at my witty metaphor, like she actually believed I'd meant to do that.

"Just one favor, Buffy?"

"Sure. What is it?"

"Do you think you could convince Kendra to stay over at Willow's tonight, or something? I'd like it to be just a 'you and me' night, okay?"

"I think arrangements could be made." I agree. We haven't really had just a 'mother/daughter bonding night' in a long time, anyway.

**The next chapter's going to be, of course, "Bad Eggs", based on the season 2 episode of the same name. However, I think I'm going to put my own darker twist on that episode, so it won't be following the actual script as closely as the previous two chapters. Forgive me for anything I may change that you don't like about my version, I promise you, after "Bad Eggs", I'll be returning to following the script almost directly, minus the addition of Kendra into the script. Basically, I'm changing the next "episode" to incorporate a thought I had when I was first watching the episode on tv, when I didn't really know what was going on. It was a thought that absolutely disgusted me, but I thought it might add a bit more of a horror element to it. So, anyway, if you don't want to read this next chapter, feel free to wait for "Surprise", the fourth chapter of this story. I won't be offended!**


	3. Bad Eggs

Chapter 3- Bad Eggs

**AN: Okay, before you read on, I think I'll elaborate on what I said about this chapter at the end of last chapter. The idea came to me during the scene where the tentacle thing came out of the egg the first time, when Buffy was asleep. It looked like the tentacle was about to dip underneathe the blanket for a second, and since the whole assignment for this episode was all about the after effects of sex, my mind automatically went to the most disturbing thing possible at that moment. So, that's what this chapter is going to be. Tell me, did anyone else have this same thought when they first saw that scene, or am I really just THAT fucked up in the head? That's not a rhetorical question, I'd really like to know. Again, if the thought of Buffy and others pretty much being raped by demon eggs disturbs you too much to read this chapter, I won't blame you for skipping past this chapter.**

"Come on, Mom, please?" I ask.

"I'm sorry, honey." Somehow, I'm not getting any sincerity in my mom's apology.

"But... don't you understand? This is so important!"

"It's an outfit. An outfit you may never buy."

"But... I looked good in it!"

"You looked like a streetwalker."

"But a thin streetwalker!" I protest, then backpedal at my mom's glare. "That's...probably not gonna be the winning argument, is it?"

"You're just too young to wear that."

"I'm gonna be too young to wear that 'till I'm too _old_ to wear that!"

"That's the idea." Mom admits, and I roll my eyes. She looks at her watch, then back at me. "Oh. Stores are gonna close and I still need to order the flyers for the opening." She thinks for a minute, then digs around in her purse for a minute. "Okay, I'll go to the printers and then get our food. You go pick up my outfit from the tailors at Everyday Woman. Here's the receipt." She hands me a slip of paper and I look at it

"Everyday Woman?" I ask, looking up at her. "Why didn't you go straight to "Muumuus R Us"?"

Mom turns me so I'm facing towards my new destination.

"Do now, make fun of your mother later."

I smirk as I start off in the general direction of Everyday Woman before I turn around and face my mom again.

"You know, you're always saying that it's not what's on the outside that counts, it's what's on the inside, so it shouldn't really matter to you what I wear."

"You're not getting that outfit, Buffy." She says without looking back at me.

"Oh come on! I'm sure you used to wear things like that when you were my age, and now that I'm saying that out loud, I'm actually regretting not letting you win this one earlier."

I shudder as I turn and continue walking away.

As I walk towards Everyday Woman, I see a man dressed up like a cowboy or something hitting on a pretty girl. He's standing beside her with one foot resting up on the bench she's sitting on. He says something, and she laughs. I smile at the cuteness, then turn towards the store, but my breath catches when I catch the girl's reflection in a mirror. She's alone.

I turn back, thinking maybe the guy just left or something, but he's still there.

_Crap. Vampire._ I think, and I forget about my mom's outfit, and instead follow the vampire and his new date-slash-meal into an arcade.

When I get into the arcade, the vampire is already burying his face in her neck. No penetration yet, so I decide now's a good time to step in.

Um... of course, by penetration, I obviously mean his fangs penetrating her neck. Not the... other... kind of penetration.

"You know... you got about the pertiest neck I've ever seen." He says in a deep southern accent.

Wow. So he's not just dressing up like a cowboy. This guy's the real deal.

"Wow, you guys really don't ever come up with new lines, do you?" I quip, and the vampire and girl turn towards me.

He puts on his game face, and the girl, oblivious to the new change, says, "Do you mind? We were talkin' here."

Half to get the girl away from him, half for my own amusement, I say, "But you promised you'd never cheat on me again, honey..."

"Uh... I better go..." The girl says, starting to back away, not wanting to get in the way of a "lover's quarrel".

"I ain't done yet." The vampire growls at her, and she runs away, screaming in terror.

He steps up towards me, angry that I scared his meal away.

"All right then, sugarlips. I'm all yours." He jumps after me, but I punch him and push him back with a series of punches and kicks that would have totally KO'd any human.

"You're a rough one, ain't ya? I like that." He grins at me and blocks my next couple attacks, then gets inside my guard, lifts me up off the ground, then slams me into the wall.

I grunt at the impact as he leers at me. I can see him undressing me with his eyes. And that's something only Kendra's allowed to do. You know... if we ever get to that point in our relationship.

This vampire is stronger than most, and I almost wish Kendra was here to help. But, you know, if I don't get a tough fight like this one once in a while, I get rusty. And I've been getting too many easy fights recently. I just wish this could have happened on patrol or something, instead of in the middle of my mother/daughter shopping spree, if you could call this a shopping spree.

"A perty little tidbit like you, with so much kick... Have to be the Slayer I've been hearin' so much about. Lyle Gorch, pleased to meet ya."

I knee him in the face in response, then I drop to the ground and sweep his legs out from underneath him.

"Wow, I really know how to sweep a guy off his feet." I quip, before looking back at him, still on the ground. "Pleasure's mine." I say, whipping out my stake and lunging for his heart. He rolls out from under me, though, and my stake misses. We both get to our feet.

"This ain't over, girl." Lyle says just before he dashes away like the cowardly bad guy in an old western movie. Which I guess, technically, he is.

"Oh sure... They say they'll call." I quip, even though no one's here to hear it.

My mom stares at my disheveled appearance as I join her in the food court.

"Oh, bliss. Mall food." It's funny how slaying makes me hungry. REALLY hungry.

"Buffy." Mom says, and I get the feeling she isn't going to ask why I look like I've been beaten up by a hundred-year-old vampire guy from the old west.

"Mom." I say back, in the same tone of voice she's using. I find it helps delay stern talking-to's for a few seconds.

"Where's my dress?" Ah, the few seconds of delay are now over.

"Your-?" Then, I remember that I was supposed to pick up my mom's dress for the opening at her gallery. "Oh. Oh my god."

"Buffy, what were you- No, let me guess. You were distracted by a b-... a girl."

"Technically..." I say, noting my mom having to remind herself that I'm into girls now.

"Buffy..." She groans.

"Well, I'll get it-" I say, standing up.

"They're closed. I'll have to fit it in tomorrow." She sighs. She's upset, but luckily, she's not _really_ mad.

"Sorry." I say, and Mom stares at me.

"A little responsibility, Buffy, that's all I ask. Honestly, don't you ever think about anything besides girls and clothes?"

"Saving the world from vampires." I suggest.

Mom rolls her eyes at me. "I swear, sometimes I have no idea what goes on in your head."

* * *

><p>"Buffy. How come you weren't in class?" Willow asks me when she and Xander walk into the library, where I'm filling Giles in on what happened at the mall. Kendra's sitting at our usual table, her feet propped up, sharpening a few stakes.<p>

"Vampire issues." I explain. "Did Mr. Whitmore notice that I was tardy?"

"I think the word you're searching for is "absent"." Xander points out.

"Tardy people show." Willow agrees.

"Oh. Right." I say.

"And yes, he noticed. So he wanted me to give you this." Willow hands me a small white egg.

"As punishments go, this is fairly abstract." I say, confused.

"No, it's your baby." Willow says, losing me even more.

"Okay, I get it even less." I say.

Xander explains it a little better. "You know, it's the whole "sex leads to responsibility" thing, which I really don't get. YOu gotta take care of the egg, it's a baby. Gotta keep it safe and teach it Christian values."

"My egg is Jewish." Willow corrects.

"Then teach it that dreidel song." Xander suggests.

"God, I can't do this!" I exclaim. "I can't take care of stuff! I killed my gigapet! Literally! I sat on it and broke it!" I set the egg down on the counter carefully, then take a step back. I can feel Kendra's laughing eyes on me, even though my back is turned towards her, and we're at least five feet away from each other.

"You'll do fine." Willow says encouragingly.

"The only thing that stresses me is, when do we tell them they're adopted?" Xander jokes.

"I'll just lay it all off on my partner. Who'd I get?" I ask.

"Well... There was an uneven number of kids... and you didn't show... so..." Willow shrinks nervously.

"I'm a single mother?" I whine. Great, I'm already my mother.

"It's okay, Buffy." Kendra says, stepping up behind me and wrapping her arms around me. "I'll help ya raise de egg. So what are we goin' ta name it?" She jokes, and I smile, holding her arms closer.

"I don't know. You know, shouldn't lesbians be exempt from this kind of assignment? I mean, it's not like we're going to get each other pregnant or anything."

"True." Kendra agree, and we look over at Xander, who's now daydreaming. Willow notices, too, and she leans in to whisper something in Xander's ear that automatically snaps him out of his fantasy.

"Willow!" Xander screeches, his voice hitting a note previously unknown to mankind. Then he starts trying to gouge his eyes out with his fingers, and Willow smiles at us.

"What'd you say to him?" I ask Willow, and she locks her lips.

"Trust me, you don't want to know."

"I'll take your word for it." I agree, and I turn my head enough to kiss my girlfriend, and the adopted mother of my new baby.

"Success at last." Giles says, coming out from behind a bookcase with a dusty old book. He almost puts the book down on Buffy Jr., but I snatch him-slash-her out of the way before he-slash-she met a very early death. Which is likely enough, living on a Hellmouth. Don't need books from the heavens adding to the dangers. "Your new playmate is a fellow of some repute, it seems." Giles says, turning the pages in the book until he gets to a picture of the vampire I'd fought in the mall.

There's another guy by Lyle, kind of smaller.

"Lyle Gorch." Giles says. "The other is his brother Tector. They're from Abeline. Made their reputation massacring a Mexican village in 1886."

"Friendly little demons." I say.

"No, that was _before_ they became vampires." Giles corrects, and we all look at him incredulously. "The good news is they're not among the great thinkers of our time. I doubt they're up to much. They were probably just down here by the Hellmouth's energy."

"Enough said." Xander says suddenly. "I propose that Buffy and Kendra slay them. All in favor?"

"Aye." Willow says, raising her hand.

"Great. Now I just have to worry about Butch and Sundance while I'm taking care of Buffy Junior here." I say, then look back at Kendra again. "Or should we name her after her other mom?"

"Perhaps we could give her both of our names." Kendra replies with a smile.

"Hey. There's an idea."

"You might need help with these two." Giles points out. "They are pretty-... Why do you all have eggs?" he asks suddenly.

"I'm sure you two can handle two vampires by yourselves." Willow says, a gleam in her eyes. I look at her in confusion.

"Oh right. I see a lot of "hunting" getting done in that scenario. Kendra and Buffy. Alone. Late at night." Xander adds, teasing, and Willow nods, indicating that's wha she was talking about. I blush and look back at Kendra, relieved to see she's talking to Giles about the Gorches, and both of them are oblivious.

"Please." I whisper. "Like she and I are just helpless slaves to passion. Grow up."

* * *

><p>I rescind my earlier sarcasm towards Will and Xander. Now I have to agree with them. They're right. Not much hunting is getting done when I keep yanking Kendra over to me and kissing her passionately, or vice versa.<p>

Finally, I pull away, gasping for air, and she does the same.

"We should-"

"Yes..." Kendra agrees, and we start to kiss again. But I pull away again after a minute, and we both try to collect ourselves.

"Yeah, this isn't "hunting" in the classical sense. We should get to work."

"You're right. Okay." We take deep breaths to calm ourselves down, then we start walking again.

We last all of about five seconds before I ask, "You see anything?"

"No." Kendra says.

"Okay. Enough hunting." We kiss again, and fall to the ground together, laughing.

* * *

><p>Kendra's retreated to her room now, and I just got out of a nice, hot shower. Alone, of course. I had to relieve some tension from tonight's "patrol". Normally, slaying makes me hungry, and maybe a little bit tense in the sexual sense. But when it's with Kendra, (Patrolling, not the sexual sense, because we haven't gone there yet. Heck, I've <em>never<em> gone there!) then the tenseness is ten times worse, especially when the patrol was as hot and steamy as tonight.

I take a deep breath, finally satisfied, then put my egg in a little basket I turned into a bed for it.

"Alrighty then Buffy Summers Jr." I say. I look in a journal and turn to a check list I made.

"Feeding. Check. Burping. Check. Diapers. Check." I adjust a small towel I put around the egg in place of a diaper. "Sort of. In theory." I shrug, and put a check mark by each item on the list. "Okay, kid. Sweet dreams." I say to the egg, still not really believing that I'm actually _talking_ to it.

I pat the egg on its "head", then climb into bed, turning the lights out.

* * *

><p><strong>[Omniscient POV (temporarily, of course)]<strong>

The room is dark, but for the stream of moonlight entering Buffy's bedroom from the window. A low humming can just barely be heard coming from the egg.

Suddenly, a small crack appears on the egg, and a long, white, thing tendril snakes its way out of the egg, moving towards Buffy. It touches its tip to Buffy's bed, then starts slithering its way up the bed, towards Buffy's face.

When the tip reaches the edge of the blanket, it splits into two tendrils, one of them dipping under the blanket, then retreating, bringing the blanket with it, sliding the blanket down Buffy's body. The other tendril slithers up to Buffy's chest, splitting again. One of the three tendrils slides under Buffy's shirt, almost caressing her braless breasts, and the other one continues it's way up to Buffy's face. From there, it splits into two more tendrils. They slide up to rest on top of her eyes as she slightly moans at the second tendril's touches to her nipples.

The first tendril makes its way back up Buffy's body, to her waist, then hooks under her pajama bottoms and panties, sliding them down her legs to her knees.

It slides back up her body once more, brushing its tip along her newly exposed slit.

The tendril under her shirt splits into two more tendrils, each of them slowly wrapping around and squeezing her nipples, and she arches into the touch, now having a very vivid erotic dream.

"Kendra..." Buffy moans in her dream, smiling.

The first tendril slides back down her slit one more time, then finds her entrance. It pushes on her entrance, and her breath hitches in her sleep at the feeling. The tendril manages to push just inside her before her back arches slightly, and she gasps as it continues to slide inside her.

The tendril touches her still intact hymen, then pushes just a little harder, and it breaks. Buffy whimpers, but doesn't stir otherwise. It pushes further into her, stopping when it had completely filled her. It doesn't slide out, it just starts pulsing as it starts to drain her energy.

* * *

><p><strong>[Buffy's POV (again)]<strong>

_Kendra seems to have three hands as she tweaks my nipples and rubs me down there. I moan, showing her how much I'm enjoying what she's doing to me. Her finger brushes against my entrance, and my breath hitches as she puts a little pressure on it._

_ She rubs my entrance in circles, never dipping inside, just enough to drive me crazy, until I'm whimpering for more, begging._

_ "Please, Kendra. Stop teasing me."_

_ "What do ya want?" Kendra asks in that exotic accent I find oh, so sexy. It turns me on even more, and I gasp as she pressed a little harder on my entrance, still tweaking my nipples with her other hand. She smiles down at me with almost black eyes._

_ "Everything. And nothing. I just want you." I breathe. She nods and leans down to kiss me as she slides just the tip of her finger inside me. I moan into the kiss, encouraging her to go further._

_ She slowly slides her middle finger inside me until she meets the resistance of my barrier, still intact at seventeen years old. She gazes into my eyes questioningly. _

_ I know she really wants to go further, she wants to make me feel everything, she wants _this_, but not for her, for _me_. I can see no end to the love in her eyes, and I can see just how _much_ she wants this for me. But as much as she wants it, I know she won't go any further if I'm not 100% certain that I want this, too. And she won't be disappointed if I decide I'm not certain._

_ But I am. I've never been more sure of anything in my life. I want this. And I want it for her, too. So instead of responding with words, I pull her back down to me for a searing kiss._

_ I've heard it's supposed to hurt the first time, when a girl's barrier is broken, but I feel no pain at all. The kiss numbs my entire body, and I can barely feel even a slight pinching sensation as she pushes just hard enough to break through my barrier, but not slip any further inside me._

_ When we pull apart, she looks down at me in wonder, and now I can feel a little bit of pain, but it's barely noticeable as I lose myself in her eyes._

_ When I've finally adjusted to the feeling of her being inside me, I nod to her, and she slowly slides her finger out of me to the tip, then adds a second finger as she slowly pushes back inside. I arch into her tough and moan, closing my eyes. Everything around me is sending my senses into overdrive, so I have to cut one of them off so I don't explode, though after only a few slow thrusts against a small bundle of tender nerves deep inside me, exploding is what I'm about to do._

_ Her hand moves away from my breasts so I can lean up enough to wrap my arms around her as an anchor, holding me down so I don't fly away._

_ There are no candles in the room. There's no soft, slow music in the background. There's no rose petals. But all of that would have been forgotten by now, and even if I did have them right now, I probably wouldn't remember any of that in the years to come. I'd only remember being here with Kendra. I'd only remember that this is perfect. Absolutely perfect.  
>...<em>

I reach over with a weak arm and shut the alarm off when it wakes me up from my very, very, very good dream. I sit up in bed, groaning.

"Oh god..." I look over at the egg. Is it just me, or is it bigger today? No, that's ridiculous.

I start to stand up, but then I realize something's different today. I don't know what it is, but I just feel different. Like something big changed last night that I should know about, but I just can't quite put my finger on it.

I walk into the kitchen, feeling extremely sluggish, carrying my backpack and egg. I plop down at the counter and take a drink of the coffee my mom just poured for herself. I knew it was for her, but I need the energy sooooo baaaaaad.

"At least eat something if you're going to drink that." Mom says.

"Not hungry." I moan.

"Did Buffy Jr. keep ya up all night?" Kendra jokes, and I roll my eyes. I'm not in the mood for humor right now.

"No." I snap, and Kendra makes a face.

"Buffy, I know you're not a morning person, but you're looking more grumpy than usual." My mom says worriedly. "Are you okay?"

"I'm just feeling really drained today. I don't know what it is, I feel like I exhausted myself last night or something, and I still haven't recovered. I feel like I'm just sleep-walking right now."

My mom gets a look in her eyes, and she smiles, like she knows what's going on. Kendra notices it, too, and we share a look.

"What?" I ask Mom.

"Nothing." She says, smirking.

"What?" I ask again, really not in the mood for avoiding answers right now.

"Look, girls, I appreciate you two being quiet last night, but next time, try not to tire each other out too much before school the next day, okay?"

I spew the drink of coffee I'd just taken, and both Kendra and I blush.

"What?!" I cry out, suddenly very awake.

"Look, I know that your situation is different from girls who are interested in boys. And Kendra, you're a very sweet, respectful young woman. So, I don't mind the two of you being intimate with each other, especially since neither of you can get the other pregnant."

"Mom!" I cry out, and if it's possible, my voice just went even higher than Xander's did yesterday.

"Ms. Summers, please-" Kendra pleads, but my mom cuts her off.

"Okay, okay, I'll drop it. I won't mention it again. I just want to assure you two that I fully support your relationship with each other, and as long as I don't have to hear it while you two are... being intimate... I really don't mind."

"Mom! It's not what it-!"

"Nothing happened!" Kendra and I both screech at the same time.

"Mom, we haven't had sex!" I shout, and Kendra shakes her head in agreement.

"Oh... Well then... forget about what I said. I mean, not about me supporting you two or anything... but about... you know what I'm talking about."

We all fall into an extremely uncomfortable silence until I decide to break it by ushering Kendra out the door for school.

* * *

><p>Willow, Kendra, Xander and I all walk into the library, and Giles looks at us curiously.<p>

"Why are you four about? Don't you have class?" He asks us in the British accent that I only now realize how much it has annoyed me all along.

"Teen health got canceled." Willow explains. Se's feeling as sluggish as I am now, and neither of us can understand how Kendra and Xander are feeling so chipper today.

"Mr. Whitmore's out today. Couldn't get an egg-sitter or something." Xander jokes, and Willow and I slump to the ground on the steps.

"Well then, could you give me a hand?" Giles asks.

"No." Will and I moan at the same time.

Xander and Kendra, though, get up and go help Giles.

"How did the hunt go last night, Buffy?" Giles asks. What's with all the questions? It's only... 11:30 in the morning.

"No go." I reply.

"You didn't go, or you were unsuccessful?"

"No Gorches."

Kendra smiles slightly.

"Apparently,Buffy has decided that the problem with the English language is all those pesky words." Xander jokes, and I glare at him. "You. Kendra. Big. Smoochies?" Xander continues to joke, and Kendra smacks him on the back of his head.

"Shut. Up." She says, and that actually makes me smile for a second.

"It's true." Giles says. "You and Willow do appear to be awfully sluggish. Are you quite sure you're alright?"

"Maybe it was something we ate..." Willow suggests.

"Or perhaps it's the burden of parenthood." Xander suggests. "Notice how seriously both of you have taken this egg thing. While I, in turn, chose a more balanced approach..." Xander takes his egg out of his pocket and starts tossing it in the air and catching it. Will and I watch the egg, nervous.

"Xander... Maybe you shouldn't-" Willow says, but Xander cuts her off.

"See? That's just what I'm talking about. You can't stress over every little thing. A child picks up on that, which is a one-way ticket to neurotic city."

Xander drops his egg on the ground, and the rest of us gasp as it hits the ground and bounces down the steps. Wait, bounces? The egg doesn't break, it just rolls to a stop on the ground, and we all look back at Xander with narrow eyes. He laughs nervously.

"That's the other secret to conscientious egg-care. A pot of scalding water and about eight minutes."

"YOU BOILED YOUR YOUNG?!" Willow screeches.

"I know it sounds harsh. But sometimes you have to be harsh to be kind. You can bet little Xander here is thick-skinned now."

"Technically, that would be called cheating, yes?" Giles asks.

"No! It's just like taking a shortcut, you know, if you're running a race."

"That would also be cheating." I say.

"You should be ashamed." Willow agrees.

"I suppose there is a sort of Machiavellian ingenuity to your transgression." Giles says.

"I resent that!" Xander shouts in reply. "Or possibly thank you?" He adds a second later, confused.

"Bit of both would suit."

* * *

><p>"As much as I hate to say this, we should go kill bad guys." I say to Kendra when we finally separate from the long, passionate kiss.<p>

"It's late." She observes. "We should get home."

I smile when I realize she just called my house "home". She hasn't done that yet, so it's special to me.

"What about the Gorches?"

"Hmm... Good point. You go home, I'll hunt dem."

"You'd do that?"

"Well, I'm not technically a student at de school, so I don't exactly have an early day tomorrow."

"True. And I still have to go home and fill out my egg diary."

"Yes. You should do dat, definitely." She smiles, and I can't help but smile back. Then, I groan.

"Ugh... This faux parenting thing is getting on my last nerve. Like I'm really planning on having kids any time soon. Someday, maybe I'll adopt or something. But a kid would be too much to deal with right now."

"Well, I tink de point of dis assignment is to make you realize the responsibility you'd have to take on after sex, if you get pregnant."

I smile and pull her close. "Yeah, but I'm also not planning on having sex with anyone but you any time soon." Then, I realize what I'd just said. Kendra and I are BOTH still virgins, of course, so we've never even had sex at all before, let alone with each other. I blush furiously at the implication. "I... I mean... um... Not, of course, that I'm planning on-"

"It's okay, Buffy." Kendra stops me, smirking, and I'm grateful that she stopped my rambling. "After dis morning, I figured dis talk was coming soon, anyway."

"Oh..." I say, and we fall silent for a few minutes. Finally, I break the silence. "So... have you... um... thought about it? With me, I mean?"

"Uh... yes... I have had... thoughts... Especially since dis morning, after what your mother said... Have... Have you? Had thoughts, I mean?"

"Yes..." I respond hesitantly. _Should I tell her about my dream last night? She's my girlfriend, so she might like to know about it. But this is gonna be sooooo awkward! Okay, come on, Buffy, spill._

"Buffy?" Kendra asks, and I realize I've been silent for a while.

"Sorry... Lot's of thoughts being had in my head right now." I explain. "Um... actually... about me... having thoughts... about you... Um... Last night, I... I had this dream... and... you were... kind of in it. Well, actually... you were the main part about it... and I was the other main part... And we were... you know... and I haven't... haven't been able to stop... thinking about the dream all day."

"You had a sex dream about me?" Kendra asks, a half smile/half blush appearing on her face.

"Um... yeah... Kinda..." I say nervously.

"I don't tink dat's something to be embarrassed about, Buffy. In fact, I actually like de fact dat you have dose thoughts about me. Because I do, too... about you, though."

"But... I mean, neither of us have ever... you know... before. How do we know...-?"

"I... I tink we should just... instead of actually trying to... please each other... just stop trying to _avoid_... sex."

"So... what you're saying is... just basically... go with the flow? Just... whatever happens, let it happen?"

"Um... yes? I guess dat's what I'm saying."

"Oh... um... okay... I guess we'll just... keep doing what we've been doing... and see where that takes us..."

"Okay." Kendra agrees. We kiss awkwardly for a minute, but let the awkwardness slip away when a pair of vampires, not the Gorches, jump out at us and attack.

I react first, knocking one of them away with a fast and well-aimed crescent kick to his head. Kendra engages the other one while I grab the one I kicked by the collar and pick him up. I slam him against a tree, and I swear I feel his fangs break under my fist when I throw a powerful right hook, then come back around with a backfist. I let him fall to the ground and whip out my stake to dust him, but he throws his head up, headbutting me, and I drop the stake in my momentary confusion. his fist slams into my head once before I react, and I catch his fist when he goes to punch me again.

My right leg strikes out in a mean roundhouse, then comes back around for another right crescent kick, and as soon as I plant my right leg, I finish with a rear side kick, knocking him back into the tree again. He's too far away for me to get to him before he can recover, so I throw my hands to the ground, kicking my feet into the air for a front handspring. My left hand closes around my stake, and my legs connect with the vampire's chest when I come back down.

I shift my center of gravity a bit so I fall down with the vampire, and when I fall on top of him, my stake plunges into his chest, and sinks into the ground when he melts into a pile of dust.

I get back up and dust myself off, watching as Kendra finishes the other vampire. I pick my stake back up and tuck it back inside my jacket pocket, watching as Kendra does the same.

Our eyes meet, and I notice that slaying seems to have the same effect on Kendra as it does on me. It makes us both unbelievably horny, and I have no idea why. It just does.

I automatically know that us not trying to not have sex anymore is about to come into play, so we grab each other's hands and start running back to my house as fast as we can.

* * *

><p>We climb back up through my window, then immediately meet in a heated kiss that quickly escalates into much, much more.<p>

My hands fly to her jacket, and I strip it off of her, followed by her shirt, which I accidentally ruin. I'm impatient, so my hands go down to her jeans, eager to relieve her of them. But Kendra's impatient, too, so she swats my hands away and all but rips my jacket and shirt off.

She reaches down and squeezes my thighs, pulling me up around her waist, then carries me over to my bed and almost slams us both down on it.

"Mmmmh!" I moan hungrily into her mouth as we kiss again, and were it not for our jeans and underwear, our centers would be touching right now.

But that's as far as it goes, because she pulls apart for some reason.

"What?" I ask.

"Did you not hear dat?" She whispers.

"Hear what?" I ask, but at that moment, I hear it, too.

"Dat." She says. It sounds almost like a clicking or something. She gets up off of me, and I groan at the loss of contact, but I get up, too, and we look around. Suddenly, our eyes dart to the egg on my nightstand as we hear the sound again, this time louder, and obviously coming from my homework.

Before we can even react, the egg explodes, and a nasty spider-looking creature jumps out at us.

We both duck out of the way, thanks to our Slayer instincts. I spin around to see the creature scamper under the bed. I point somewhere behind me for Kendra, and luckily, she gets the hint as I keep my eyes on the bed, waiting for the creature to attack again.

She hands me a book while she's holding a nail file to fight the thing off with, and we start to creep towards the bed. I drop slowly to the ground, then lift the dust ruffle on the bottom of the bed, looking under it, but there's nothing there.

I stand up and shake my head at Kendra. We both start looking around for it again, but can't find it anywhere. At least, not until it drops from the ceiling and lands on me. It feels like it's trying to snap my bra off, so I think it might be a little pervert demon or something, but I don't take the time to find out. I drop the book in my hands, then reach behind me to grab the buggy-thing. I fling it across the room and feel the wind beside my head rush as Kendra throws the nail file. It impales itself into the creature on the wall, going through to the wall as well.

The bug hangs from the nail file in the wall, lifeless.

Blue slime comes out of the dead creature, and I grimace.

"Yuck." I say out loud. I hear a knock on the door, and Kendra and I scramble to cover up the mess in here, forgetting we're missing our shirts. Kendra straightens up the room, and I take the creature off the wall, keeping the nail file inside it, and I hide them both in my dresser drawer.

My mom comes in just in time to see us both turn quickly towards the door. She blushes when she sees our state of undress, then we realize it, too, and cover ourselves up with our arms.

"I... I, um... was coming to see what the... what the commotion was... Now I guess... Now I guess I know..." She walks out slowly and closes the door softly behind her.

I look back at Kendra, and we both silently agree that nothing further is going to happen between us tonight. So, she picks up her shirt, kisses me quickly, then leaves my room, going towards hers.

I plop down on my bed and sigh. _Ugh. We were _so_ close!_

* * *

><p>Mom is driving me to school today, but we've both been silent so far. The events of last night leave us both speechless in the awkward tension in the air.<p>

Finally, when I'm about to get out of the car, I turn to her and break the silence.

"Um... think you could pick me up at the library later today? I'm going to ask Will's help with studying for this test that's coming up."

"Okay. What time?"

"Um... better make it about 5:30, just to be safe. If we get done early, I'll just hang out there until then."

"Sure thing."

With that, we return to awkward silence, so I get out of the car and walk up the steps to my daily prison.

I look around at all the other students arriving for the day, and I suddenly wonder how many of them have evil eggs like mine.

I look over at Cordelia, who's walking around looking like a schoolgirl from a porno movie. N-n-not that I h-have any experience w-with that, of c-course.

"Nice bear." I say to Cordy as I walk up to her. "Listen, is your-"

"I'll have you know that my father brought this back for me from Gstaad years ago. Then all of a sudden these trendoids everywhere are sporting them. So I've been totally not wearing it. But then I was- "Hey! I started this whole nation-wide craze. What am I ashamed of?"."

"Okay, soliloquy girl..." I say with a smirk. "I just wanted to know about your egg."

"My egg?"

"You know, the egg that Mr. Whitmore gave to you?"

"I've got it in my bear. I'm going to ace this experiment. No sweat. You think keeping an egg intact for a week is effortful? Try not breaking a silk-wrapped nail."

"And your egg isn't acting... odd, or anything?"

Cordy look at me like I'm an idiot. "It's not "acting" anything. It's an egg, Buffy. It doesn't emote." She says with a scoff.

Willow walks up and joins us as we keep walking up towards the school.

"Hey Will, did your egg... do... anything last night?" I ask, and Cordy rolls her eyes.

"Do anything?" Willow asks.

"She's been pestering me like that all morning." Cordy explains. "It's irritating. I think she's been inhaling too much vamp dust, if you catch my drift."

Will and I ignore her, though, and I ask her again. "Did it?"

"No." Willow answers. "I put my egg in the fridge last night."

"Oh. Okay. I guess it was just me, then."

"Just you what?"

"My egg went postal last night. It hatched, and this spidery thing attacked me."

"Oh. Wow."

"Yeah. And it really had the worst timing possible." I groan.

"What do you mean?"

I blush as I remember exactly what the bug thing interrupted.

"Well... Kendra and I were getting back from patrol last night, and we crawled in through my window... and... we were..." I now have Cordy and Willow's undivided attention.

"Go on." Willow says with a gleam in her eyes.

"We were starting to..." I swallow, but they're obviously going to make me say it. "We were going to have sex. Together. _Finally_. I mean, we were _right there_! We were _so close_, but then that thing hatched, and we had to kill it, then my mom walked in to see what the commotion was, and she saw us without our shirts, and... ugh, it was too embarrassing! There was no way anything was going to happen after my mom walked in." I whine, and Willow pats my back.

"It's okay, Buffy." She says. "It'll happen sooner or later."

"I'm more worried about the "later" part, though. I'd rather it be the "sooner" option."

"I know." She says sympathetically. Then, we're back on the subject of Mr. Bug. "You didn't bring the thing that attacked you, did you?"

"Yeah. I called Giles and he's in research mode. Wants to see it."

"Well, take it to the science lab. I'll get Giles and we can analyze it."

"Great. I always say "a day without an autopsy is like a day without sunshine"."

Just then, we hear Xander scream, and we look over to see him holding his now cracked open egg, and a bug thing like my bug thing falls out of the hardboiled shell.

* * *

><p>After school, both of the bug things from mine and Xander's eggs are pinned open in dissection trays in the science lab. Cordy, Xander and I are waiting for Willow to get back with Giles.<p>

"Can I just say... "uugghh"!" He says and shudders.

"I see your "uugghh" and raise you a "gnyegh"!" I reply.

"What is it?" Cordelia asks.

Xander leans over. "We, um... We don't know what it is, Cordelia. That's why we're here. Capiché?" He says conspiratorially.

"Capiché? Like you're Mr. World Traveler."

Willow walks into the room that moment.

"Where's Giles? I know he'd hate to miss this." I ask her.

"He said we should get started and he'd be by as soon as possible." She says. Is it just me, or does Willow sound almost... emotionless?

Xander hands me a scalpel. "So. Okay. Get started Buffy. Dissect it or something."

"Dissect it?!" I shriek. "Why me?"

"You're the Slayer." He says, like that was grounds enough.

"I slayed! My work here is done!" I hand it back to him.

"Oh no. I almost ate one of these things. I've fulfilled my gross-out quota for the decade."

"Guys?" Willow says, then takes the scalpel away from Xander. We're both satisfied, so we let Willow do the cutting.

As soon as she cuts into the bug, some blue goop squirts out.

"Do we have any idea what to look for?" Xander asks. "I mean, how are we supposed to figure out what this thing is?"

"Turn it over. Maybe we missed its ID bracelet." I suggest.

As Willow keeps cutting, the rest of us get more and more grossed out.

"So I guess we know what happened to Mr. Whitmore." Xander says.

"He saw one of these things and ran away?"

"Try "best-case scenario"." I quip. I do that a lot, don't I?

"It's possible Mr. Whitmore wasn't harmed. Maybe the offspring simply used him to return to the Mother Bezoar."

That sends red lights flashing all over the place.

"What's a Bezo-?" I begin to ask, but then I feel something hit me in the back of the head, and my world fades to black.

* * *

><p>I sit up and groan in pain as I feel the back of my head. I look around and see that Xander and I are locked in a supply closet, and I remember Cordelia hitting me with a lead pipe. I guess Willow's in on whatever's going on, because she's not locked up with us.<p>

"Xander?" I ask, shaking him awake.

He groans, too, looking up from where he lays on the hard ground.

"Are you okay?"

"Man, the last time Cordy dragged me in here was a lot nicer." He groans.

"What?"

"Uh, nothing. Crazy talk. Head trauma." He backpedals.

"Yeah, I'm gonna have a bump." I let it slide, due to recent events taking priority.

"I'm gonna have a peninsula here. What the hell is going on? Cordy and Willow..."

"Something to do with our hatchlings, I'm sure of that." I say as I reach for the doorknob, not surprized to find it locked tight.

"What, are they possessed?"

"I don't know. They sure wanted us out of the way."

"Why not kill us? Why drag us in here- oh." I look back to see Xander looking at a crate on the ground.

I see the two eggs on the crate, and automatically know what the plan was.

But I don't let it come to pass. Instead, I grab something heavy, I don't really care what, then slam it down on the eggs, crushing them. Blue ooze gushes out from under the object. Apparently, it was a tool chest.

"You're scrambled." Xander says in his best impersonation of Arnold Schwartzenegger. He looks back at me and grins. "See, we make a good team. You kill, I pun."

I rear back and kick the door open, then look back at Xander.

"Come with me if you want to live." I fire back in _my_ Arnold impression, which, surprizingly, is actually much better than Xander's.

Xander's jaw drops, then he almost laughs at my wits.

* * *

><p>We enter the library just in time to see Giles go flying, then crash down on the table we usually hold Scooby meetings at. I look around and see Kendra brushing herself off.<p>

"Kendra, what's going on?!" I screech.

"He's possessed, Buffy. I told your mom dat I would come and get you today, but when I got here, you weren't here."

"Yeah. Willow and Cordy gave me and Xander a time-out in a supply closet. They're possessed too."

"Anyway, I came here, den talked to Giles to find out where you were, and he tried to stick one of dose spidery tings on me back. I killed it, den trew Giles across de room, and dat's when you walked in."

I hug Kendra tightly.

"God, I'm glad you're okay."

"Me too. So, what's going on?" She asks, returning the embrace.

"I don't know." I admit, pulling away.

"Willow said something... a name... what was it?" Xander asks.

"A Bozo!" I say. Then, judging by Xander's look, I think that was wrong, so I backpedal. "Not a bozo..."

"Bezoar!" Xander exclaims.

"Yes!" I agree. "Great. Okay, so,we look it up."

"In what?" Xander asks, and I shrug.

"A book?" I suggest, and Kendra rolls her eyes.

"Is dis what you are looking for?" She asks, pointing to a book Giles already had open.

"Giles said he was gonna try to find something." I say, then walk over to his desk and look at the books he had lying open. A picture of the little bug thing jumps out at me. "I'd say he found something."

Xander starts to walk over, then steps on something crunchy. It's the egg shell from the thing that possessed Giles.

I turn back to the book.

"A prehistoric parasite... the mother hibernates underground, laying eggs. Offspring attach themselves to a host, taking control of their motor functions through neural clamping." I read.

"Neural clamping? That sounds skippable." Xander says with a grimace, wiping eggshell off his shoe.

"So our people are taking orders from the mama Bezoar. Which begs the question-"

"What does mommy want?" Kendra asks.

We hear a scream outside, then run out of the library to see Johnathan stand up, no emotions on his face. Kendra goes to rip the creature off of him, but I stop her, and she glares at me like I'm insane.

"Don't, Kendra. If it's attached to his spine, you might end up killing him if you try to take it off. We'll have to find a way to get it to let go of him first. Besides, if we follow him, he might lead us to Bugzilla." I explain, and she nods in understanding.

We follow Johnathan all the way to the boiler room, and see him disappear down a hole in the back wall.

"Do we really wanna go in there?" Xander asks.

"We really don't." I agree, but we step through the hole anyway. We follow the tunnel all the way to the end and see _everyone_ using pickaxes and other tools to dig out a big hole in the ground.

"What are they digging up?" Xander asks. I look closely at the ground, then recoil at the sight.

"Oh boy..." I mutter. It's the mother Bezoar.

Suddenly, Xander nudges me, then points at something. I follow his line of sight and see Cordelia pick up a crate of Bezoar eggs and carry them out through another tunnel, followed closely by several other people carrying eggs.

"We can't let them spread those things." I growl. "Xander, Kendra, go stop them."

Xander nods, but Kendra shakes her head.

"No."

"What?" I ask, stunned. We don't normally disagree about this kind of thing.

"I'm not going to leave you here to fight dese zombies by yourself, Buffy. If dey notice you, dey'll be all over you, and even with Slayer strength, you can't handle them all by yourself. Not without seriously hurting someone. I'm staying here."

"Kendra, there's no time for arguing." I start, but she cuts me off.

"Den don't argue with me. I'm staying here to help keep dem off your back while you handle de big one in de middle." I sigh in defeat, then nod to Xander, who nods back then heads after Cordy.

"We're gonna need weapons." I say to Kendra. "We're gonna need big weapons."

She nods, then we head back through the tunnel to go find something, only to run into the Gorches.

"Told you it wasn't over." Lyle says, then notices Kendra beside me. "The more the merrier." He grins, baring his fangs.

"They're so cute and little. Can we keep 'em?" The other vampire, Tector, I think, asks his brother.

"Guys, this is not a great time." I say to them, and Kendra and I grab some pickaxes.

"It's gonna be." Lyle says, and he and Tector come right at us. I kick out and send Tector flying against the back wall, but Lyle tackles me and Kendra, and the three of us go rolling back down the tunnel towards the Bezoar room.

The three of us stand up and look around. The zombies have all stopped working and are looking right at us.

"What the hell is this?" Lyle asks.

"Kill them." I turn to find the source of the voice, only to see Willow pointing at us, the signature expressionless face of a zombie.

The three of us immediately spring into defensive mode, Kendra and me actually working _with_ Lyle to beat back the zombies coming for us, though we _are_ being a little bit more gentle with them than Lyle.

"What's goin' on?!" Lyle screams.

"Long story!" I shout back.

I grab the pickaxe out of someone's hands, then kick him away, slamming the metal part into someone else's gut simultaneously. I mean the archy part, not the pointy part. I don't want to _kill_ anyone, of course.

I whip around and use a crescent kick to knock another zombie out, using my momentum to power a backfist into someone else's temple, rendering her unconscious, too.

I look over and see Lyle and Kendra holding their own against the zombies, too, so I whistle out, and Kendra nods at my signal. She stands up on a stack of egg crates then calls out, catching everyone's attention.

"You want it?" She asks, hefting a two-by-four like a club. "Come get it." The zombies all go for her and Tector, drawing them all away from me, so I start for the mother Bezoar, but Tector has found his way back here, and he attacks right then.

He doesn't last long, though, because I roll with his momentum and kick him off of me, only for him to land by the hole.

"What is that...?" He asks, looking down at the mother Bezoar.

An eye opens, and a tendril whips out, wrapping around his neck and pulling him in before he can even scream.

"Tector! TECTOR!" Lyle shouts, then glares at me. "This is all YOUR fault!" He screams, then jumps over the zombies and tackles me. I fall down into the hole with the mother Bezoar, and see him glaring down at me in victory. "Well how 'bout that? I just killed me a Slayer."

"BUFFY!" Kendra screams, but she can't get to me.

Tendrils wrap around my arms, legs and throat, but luckily, I still have my pickaxe.

I struggle for a few minutes, trying to get one of my arms free, but eventually, I manage to swing the pickaxe, and I break off one of the tendrils, freeing my other arm.

I start batting away the other tendrils as they come at me, then finally sink the pointy part of the pickaxe in the Bezoar's eye. It roars in pain, but I push harder, and with a satisfying _crunch_, I hear the pickaxe go straight into its brain. It roars one more time, then dies as blue ooze sprays all over me, and the tendrils sink down away from me.

I throw the pickaxe over the edge of the hole and slowly climb out to see the baby Bezoars falling off of everyone's backs, and the victims all sink to the ground, unconscious.

I glare at Lyle as I stand up, and I'm sure I look terrifying, but I just feel icky.

Lyle Gorch looks at me in terror. "Okay. It's over now..." He says in true cowardly bad guy fashion, grabs his hat, and runs away.

* * *

><p>Later that night, the news is buzzing about the freak gas leak at Sunnydale High that lead to abnormal behavior from all of the students and faculty and ended with "seventeen year old Buffy Summers and Kendra Young managing to find the shut-off valve and turn off the gas before serious damage could be done". The anchorman's words, not mine.<p>

We had to give the press _some_ last name for Kendra, since no one would believe she was my sister, especially since someone told them she's my girlfriend. So, we came up with Young.

Kendra and I are laying on my bed, my left leg draped over her waist, my arm draped over her chest, and we're kissing. We're both still fully clothed, and after being covered in blue giant bug guts, I'm _really_ not in the mood to actually have sex. But kissing is okay. Kissing is definitely okay.


	4. Surprise

Chapter 4- Surprise

I wake up in the middle of the night, kind of. I'm still, like, 99% asleep. I reach over to my night stand to grab a glass of water for a drink, but the glass is empty. I climb out of bed and walk out of my room, forgetting about the water.

I walk down the hallway, feeling like there's something behind me the whole way, but I don't turn to see what it is. Something tells me to keep going.

I can sense whatever it is stalking me reach for me, but I still don't acknowledge it. Instead, I turn a different direction. I'm looking for something, but I don't know what. Whatever I'm looking for, it's not in the place I just looked, so I tun towards the bathroom.

I walk through the doorway of the bathroom into the Bronze for some reason, still wearing my pajamas, but I don't really think anything about it. I see Willow at a table having a cup of coffee with a monkey. Or is that Xander? I don't know. It's too confusing to think about right now, when I'm still pretty much asleep. Willow waves at me, cheerily, and I return the wave before I keep walking.

I turn and see my mom, who's also drinking coffee, while holding a large plate. I'm taking all this coffee around as some sign from the universe that I need some. And universe, I think you're right.

"Do you really think you're ready, Buffy?" Mom asks.

"What?" I ask, thoroughly confused.

Her expression goes bank as the plate slips from her hands and shatters on the floor.

I look back up, but my mom is gone. I turn around, looking for her, and everything is in slow motion.

I see the dance floor is packed, people pretty much having sex right there on the spot. The sexual tension is so thick, the metaphorical knife wouldn't even be enough to cut it. More like some kind of metaphorical _chainsaw_.

But then, time freezes when I see her. Kendra. I smile at her and start walking towards her. She smiles back at me, but my smile turns to horror when I see Drusilla right behind her.

I break into a dead run, trying to get to Kendra, to save her, but it's too late.

I see Drusilla's sword plunge through Kendra from behind, the tip stabbing through Kendra's shirt, her blood pouring freely.

"Kendra!" I cry out, pushing the dancers aside. Everyone around us just keeps dancing, and everything is moving in slow motion.

I just manage to touch Kendra's hand before it drops to her side and Kendra's lifeless body slides off the blade.

Drusilla smiles wickedly at me, leering at me hungrily.

"Happy Birthday, Buffy." She says.

And I bolt up in bed, gasping for air, sweat soaking my skin. It was all just a nightmare.

...

I walk across the hall and knock on Kendra's door. I step back and wait nervously for a few minutes, then knock again.

"Kendra?" I ask, and I can hear her stirring in her room. I hear her groan sleepily, and I call her name again, trying not to wake my mom up.

"Hold on." I hear her mumble, and I can hear the sheets shifting as she slides out of bed and makes her way over to the door.

How is it that she can be pretty much sleepwalking, her hair frizzy from having just climbed out of bed, her clothes all rumpled up, and she still manages to look breath-takingly beautiful?

"Is everyting okay?" She asks as she takes me in. I know what she sees. I saw it in the bathroom mirror a minute ago. My eyes are bloodshot, tears welling up, my face is red because of my crying, and I'm still drenched with sweat. My hair looks ten times worse than hers does right now, and I'm still breathing harshly.

I walk into her bedroom without waiting for an invite. She closes the door behind me.

"I was going to ask you that, actually." I breathe. "You're okay, right?"

"Yes. I'm fine. Why do you ask?"

She pulls me to her and holds me.

"I... I had this dream." I start to explain after a few minutes of collecting myself. "Drusilla was back. It was awful."

"What happened?" The concern in her voice just jumped to a whole new level, and I know she's wide awake now.

"She... She killed you... Right in front of me... I saw the whole thing..." I say, choking up.

"It was just a dream." She says, stroking my arm soothingly. "It wasn't real." She says that, but I can feel her tenseness. Drusilla was bad enough in her weakened state. But now, after the successful completion of the restoration ritual, she'd be back to full strength. It's still got everyone on edge.

"But it felt _so_ real." I protest softly.

"It wasn't. I am right here, Buffy." She assures me.

"But this happened before." I point out. She's heard the story. "That dream I had about the Master, it came true."

"But not every dream you have comes true. I mean, what else did you dream about last night? Can you remember?"

I think for a minute, then sigh as I respond. "That Giles and I opened an office supply warehouse in Las Vegas." I admit, it does sound silly now. Still, might not be the _worst_ investment ever made.

"You see me point?" She asks.

"Yeah." I admit. "But still, I mean, what if Drusilla _is_ back? She's still out there, and stronger than she was before."

"Even if she is, we'll deal." Kendra promises me.

I nod, slowly relaxing. "But what if-" Kendra silences me in the best way possible.

Her lips capture mine in a gentle, passionate kiss that slowly relaxes me.

"What if what?" Kendra teases.

I draw a blank. "Sorry. Were we talking?" I ask, only half-joking.

Our eyes are drawn to the bed in the corner of her room. We both look into each other's eyes. We both want to. We both _really_ want to.

But-

"I-I... have to go to school." I say.

We're not really ready for it. We've come close before, of course. Several times since the egg attacked me, we've come close.

But since then, we've both realized that we're not ready. So, we force ourselves away from each other, and I know I'm going to need a very, _very_ cold shower this morning to cool me off.

"I know." She says regretfully.

I kiss her again, even though I know it's a bad idea. It'll only make saying no more difficult.

"God..." I whisper. "You feel..."

"You must go." She says, interrupting me, her eyes clenched shut, and her breathing even more ragged than mine, if that's possible.

"Alright... This is me." I say softly, still very much wanting to give up on being mature and responsible and push her down on her bed. But, instead, I open her door to step out, only for her to put her hand on my shoulder and turn me back around to face her.

"You still have not told me what ya want for your birthday." She points out.

I smile at her. "Surprise me..."

"Okay. I will..." She smiles back.

"This was nice. I like you first thing in the morning." I say, still smiling.

"I'm goin' back to bed." She says softly.

"Then I like you at bed time." I correct myself, then I deadpan. My mouth falls open, and I stammer. "I-I mean... You... know what I mean."

"I tink so." She says teasingly, but she's fidgeting uncomfortably, and I very much know why, because I'm feeling it, too. "What do ya mean?"

"That I- I like seeing you... And the part... this part... when I have to say goodbye for school... it's getting harder..."

"Yes... It is." She agrees after a few minutes of silence.

Then, I face palm because I realize that today is Sunday, and I don't have school today.

And Kendra comes to the same conclusion, because her eyes grow wide and her breathing quickens again.

"It's... Sunday..." I say, and she nods, groaning. You wouldn't think what day it is makes that big of a difference. But somehow, knowing that we're not under time constraints because of school today, without having that excuse to fall back on, it's infinitely harder to say no.

So, I don't say no. Not really, anyway. We're not ready to go the whole nine yards, but maybe going the first two or three wouldn't be so bad...

I push back on her shoulders, pushing her further into her room, and I close the door behind me again. I pull her into me, smashing our lips together as I lead her back over to her bed.

I lay down and pull her down on top of me, still kissing, and I hold her close.

She's trying to avoid actually putting any weight on me, but I pull her down, and she just lets go. Her hips press into mine, and we groan. The pressure our cores are making against each other through our pajamas is delicious, yet frustrating at the same time, because both of us want nothing more than to get rid of the barriers between us, but if I even see a hint of flesh that wasn't exposed before, I'll lose control, and I have the feeling it's the same for her.

Still, she can't help but grinding down on me to relieve some of the tension between her legs, and we both groan into our kiss.

My hands fly to her waist and pull her hips down harder on mine, arching my back into her at the feeling.

Our chests are pressed just as tight together as our hips, and I can feel how hard her buds are through our tops, and mine tighten up even more at the thought.

I pull away from her to gasp, and then I realize how big a mistake that was, because I groan out loud. And I mean _loud_. If my mom is awake, then she _definitely_ heard that.

The sound of me groaning has Kendra grinding down even harder, and I know that I need to put a stop to this, or we won't be able to stop at all.

"Gah!" I gasp, and I put my hand on her chest and push. She agrees immediately and rolls over onto her back beside me.

Both of us struggle to catch our breath.

...

"I like you at bed time?" Willow asks incredulously the next day as we're walking up towards the school together. "You actually _said_ that?!" She's grinning like an idiot.

"I know... I know..." I groan, and not the same way I did with Kendra yesterday morning.

"Man... That's... I don't know, that's _moxie_ or something!"

"Totally unplanned. It just came out."

"And she was into it? She wants to see you at bedtime, too?"

I stop walking and stare at Willow for a minute, thinking. Kendra's reaction to me... all signs point to more than "yes", they all point more towards "Um, duh!"

"Oh yeah." I say.

"You sound confident about that." She teases.

"Well, normally I wouldn't be... I'd be more insecure about it, of course, or at least _act_ insecure about it, but... You should have _heard_ her, Will..." I flinch at that, then correct myself. "Actually, on second thought, no, you shouldn't have. But just take my word for it. She wants me every bit as much as I want her. But, I mean, other than that lapse in judgement on our part yesterday, she's so cool about it. She acts like it's not affecting her as much as it really is, but I can tell she's not doing it to put me off, it's more to reassure me that she's willing to wait."

"Of course she does!" Willow agrees enthusiastically. "'Cause she's cool. He would never... you know..."

"Push." I agree.

"Right. She's not the type." She smiles.

I groan. "Willow... What am I going to do?"

"What do you _want_ to do?" She retorts.

"Well... _Want_ isn't always the right thing... To do, I mean. To act on want can be wrong."

"True." She agrees.

"But... to _not_ act on want... You could watch your whole life pass you by."

"Carpe diem." She agrees again. At least, I think she does. Not sure what "carpe diem" means, though. "You told me that once."

"Seize the fish?" I ask.

She giggles. "Not "carp", "Carpe". It means seize the day."

"Oh. Right." I smile in embarrassment. Then, I come to a decision. "I think we're going to... seize it, Will. Sooner or later... Once you get to a certain point, seizing is sort of inevitable." And only now that I've said the words out loud do they sound real.

"Wow..." She says after a few minutes.

"Yeah." I agree.

We fall back into silence again.

"Wow..." She reiterates.

I turn my head and see Oz walking just ahead of us a bit, then nudge Willow.

"Speaking of wow potential, there's Oz. What are we thinking? Any sparkage there?"

Immediately, Willow's glowing, and her eyes twinkle a bit.

"He's nice. I like his hands." She blurts.

"Ooh, fixation on insignificant detail. Definite crush sign."

"I don't know, though." She deadpans. "I mean, he is a senior."

I scoff. "You think he's too old 'cause he's a senior? Please. My last _boy_friend had a bicentennial."

Willow shrugs. "That's true, I guess... I just..."

"You can't spend the rest of your life waiting for Xander to wake up and smell the hottie. Make a move. Do the talking thing."

"What if the talking thing becomes the awkward silence thing?" She's panicking now.

"You won't know unless you try. Come on, Will. Seize the fish!" I joke, but then nudge Willow with my hips, bumping her over closer to Oz.

...

I'm walking with Ms. Calendar towards Giles and Xander, who are whispering to each other conspiratorially. I have a feeling I know what they're talking about, especially since they both fall silent when I get close enough to hear.

"Buffy!" Xander exclaims, grinning. "I feel a pre-birthday spanking coming on!" He says, and I glare at him.

"I'd... curb that impulse, Xander..." Ms. Calendar warns.

"Check." He says, wiping the smile away, then speaks into an imaginary radio. "Cancel spanking."

"What's the matter, Buffy?" Giles asks. "You look fatigued."

"Rough night." I explain. "I had a dream that Drusilla was back... and she killed Kendra. It really spun me. I even had to go over to her room at, like, two in the morning yesterday to make sure she was okay."

"There's a line I haven't tried.' Xander quips. ""I just dropped by to see if you're dead." It says caring. Concerned. Smoochies guaranteed."

"Please. I didn't go over there for smoochies." I say, then pause. "Okay, so... When I found out she was okay... I was relieved, so naturally... Please, someone stop me." I plead.

"So Kendra's fine, then?" Ms. Calendar, remind me to send you a gift basket for that.

"Yeah, but... I've just got this bad feeling. This wasn't a normal dream."

"You feel it was more of a portent?" Giles asks curiously.

"I don't know." I admit. "I don't wanna start a big freak-out over nothing."

"Still. We should be on alert. If Drusilla _is_ back, then we may be facing a cataclysmic state of affairs." Giles says in true-Giles fashion.

"Again." Xander says. "So many words. Can't you just say we'd be in trouble?"

Giles rolls his eyes. "Go to class, Xander."

"Gone." Xander agrees, then starts to walk away, but turns back to get in the last word.

"Notice the economy of phrasing. "Gone". It's simple. Direct."

Giles takes his glasses off to clean them as Xander walks away.

"I guess I should get gone, too." I say.

"Don't worry yourself unduly, Buffy." Giles suggests. "This could be nothing."

"I know. I should keep my Slayer cool and all, but, it's Kendra. Which automatically equals maxi-wig." I say before I turn and head off to class.

...

The next morning, mom is clearing the breakfast dishes away from the table while I'm getting ready for school. She just gave me a birthday card earlier this morning.

"Mall trip for your birthday on Saturday. Don't forget." She says.

"Space on a mom-sponsored shopping opportunity?" I say with my eyebrows raised. "Not likely."

Kendra smirks at me. We managed to make it through the morning without any extreme sexual frustration. Well, no more than usual, anyway.

"So, does seventeen feel different from sixteen?" Kendra asks, and I sit down in her lap, casting a glance towards my mom. We'd rehearsed this opening earlier before we came downstairs.

"Funny you should ask. I actually woke up feeling more mature, responsible and level-headed." My mom tenses up. She knows exactly where this is going.

"Really?" She asks suspiciously. "That's uncanny."

"And yet, true." I nod as I say this, looking back at Kendra as if this were just any other conversation. "I now possess the qualities one looks for in a..." And here I look pointedly at my mom, "licensed driver."

"Buffy." My mom looks at me in exasperation.

"You said we could talk about it again when I was seventeen." I point out.

"You've been seventeen for forty-eight minutes." She says, looking at her watch.

"And...?"

"But... You behind the wheel? It worries me."

"It worries _all_ moms. It's biological imperative. But I'm going to drive sooner or later, so we might as well deal sooner, right?"

"Do you really think you're ready, Buffy?" My mom asks, picking up another plate to put it in the sink.

I freeze, hearing that line. My mom drops the plate, and time seems to slow down as it falls and shatters on the ground.

I'm out the door before she even looks up again...

...

"And then my mom broke the plate!" I exclaim. I'm talking to Giles now, sufficiently wigged out by the deja vu-yness of this morning."It was exactly like I saw it in my dream, Giles. Every gesture. Every word. Beyond creepy."

"Yes. I'd imagine." Now Giles sounds concerned, like he's actually considering that my dream might actually be true.

"Hey! The woman of the hour!" I hear Xander exclaim as she and Xander walk into the library.

"It's happy Birthday Buffy!" Willow shouts gleefully. They move in to hug me, but flinch when they really see me. "Not happy birthday Buffy?" Willow asks.

"It's just... A piece of the nightmare Buffy had the other night actually came to pass." Giles explains.

"Something happen to Kendra?" Xander asks worriedly.

"She's fine. For now." I say. "But if _part_ of what I had a dream about came true..."

"Then all of it might." Willow completes my sentence.

"And Drusilla might be back." I nod. I turn back to Giles. "In the dream, I couldn't stop her. She blind-sided me, Giles. Kendra was dead before I knew what happened." I have to borrow Giles' handkerchief to wipe my tears away.

"Even if she is back, we can still protect Kendra. Dreams are not prophecies, Buffy. You dreamt the Master had risen, but you stopped it from happening." Giles points out.

"You ground his bones to make your bread." Xander quipped.

"That's true." I admit, then grimace. "Except for the bread part. I guess we're one step ahead, but Giles, I'd like to stay that way."

"Absolutely." Giles agrees. "Let me read up on Drusilla, see if she has any particular patterns. Why don't you meet me here at 7:00? Map out a strategy."

"Okay." I agree. "What do I do until then?"

"Go to class... do your homework... have supper." He suggests.

"Oh right. Be _that_ Buffy." I say before I grab my bag and leave.

...

I'm walking towards my meeting with Giles in the library when Ms. Calendar jumps out at me suddenly, and I almost end up giving her a roundhouse she'd never forget.

"Buffy." She says.

"God, I didn't see you there." I say, clutching my chest in relief.

"Sorry. Giles wanted me to tell you that there's been a change of plans. He wants to meet you somewhere near his house. I guess he had to run home and get a book or something." She says, and there's something fishy about her tone, but I don't really pay any mind to it.

"Yeah, 'cause heaven knows there aren't enough books in the library." I quip.

"He's... very thorough."

I nod. "Which is not to bag. It's kinda manly in an obsessive/compulsive sorta way, dontcha think?"

"I have my car. I can drive, if you want." she suggests.

"Okay..." I agree hesitantly. Something's off, I can feel it."

...

"So where are we headed, anyway?" I ask as she drives.

She doesn't reply, which has me worried.

She starts to slow down and pulls into the alley behind the Bronze.

"We're going to the Bronze?" I ask, recognizing my surroundings.

"I'm not sure." She admits. "Giles gave me an address. I'm just following his directions."

"Uh oh." I say as I see three guys sneaking something out of the Bronze in a box. My Slayer senses are screaming "VAMPIRES!".

"What?" Ms. Calendar asks before she sees what I'm looking at.

"This looks funky. Stop for a sec." She does.

"Buffy, maybe you shouldn't."

"Sorry." I say. "Sacred duty, yadda, yadda, yadda."

I open the door and step out of the car, stalking towards the vamps slowly.

I walk towards the vampires and see the same vampire I saw a while back, stealing the Du... Du-something-or-other-Cross.

"Every time I see you, you're stealing something. You should talk to somebody about this klepto issue." I say to the vampire.

_Slam!_ A huge vampire attacks me from behind. I easily fight him off, but Dalton's getting away in the back of the truck.

I leave the huge vamp behind and run to the front of the truck. I jump onto the truck and stake the driver through the window before he can start driving, then I go back around to the back. The glasses vamp holding the box smiles in terror, drops the box, then runs away just as the huge vampire tackles me.

I kick out, knocking him down, then roll to my feet just as he stands up. He throws a punch, but I sidestep it, using his momentum to throw him to the ground. He gets back up and tackles me again, and we smash through the back wall of the loading dock, into the main part of the struggle for a bit, but I come out on top and stake him.

I stand up and dust myself off, then notice everyone standing around in party hats.

"Surprise!" Cordelia shouts as she stands up.

"That pretty much sums it up." Oz says, looking back at Cordy.

"Buffy, are you okay?" Kendra asks as she walks up to me.

"Yes, what happened?" Giles asks.

"There were these vamps in the alley. And one of Dru's guys was... What's going on?" I ask, motioning to the party stuff.

"Surprise party." Giles mutters under his breath, feeling like the atmosphere was ruined.

"Yeah, happy birthday." Cordy grumbles.

"You guys did all this for me?" I ask, and they all look up at me, beaming. "You are so sweet!"

"You're certain you're okay?" Kendra asks.

"I'm fine." I answer with a smile, totally in the mood for a party.

"Are _you_ okay?" Willow asks Oz, and I realize that they must have come _together_. Like, as _dates_.

"Yeah..." He says, stunned. "Did everybody else see a guy turn into dust?"

"Uh... sort of..." Willow admits.

"Yep." Xander confirms. "Vampires are real, lot of 'em live in Sunnydale, Willow'll fill you in."

"I know it's hard to accept at first..." Willow says.

"No, actually, it explains a lot." Oz says, really cool about everything. Willow, he's a keeper. Don't let him get away.

"Can somebody give me a hand here?" Ms. Calendar asks, struggling to carry the box that the vampires were after.

Kendra and Giles take the box from her and set it down on the table.

"Those creeps left this behind." She says.

"What is it?" I ask.

"I have no idea." Giles admits. "Can it be opened?"

I walk over and feel under the edge of the box. "It feels like there's some kind of release... There." I step back as the box opens, and reveals... an arm?

We all look inside, then the arm shoots up and grabs me by the throat, choking me.

Kendra reacts on instinct and pries the arm away from my throat, shoves it back in the box and closes it.

I pull away, gasping for air, and not in a good way.

"Clearly, the Hellmouth's answer to "What do you get the Slayer who has everything?"." Xander quips, trying to break some of the tension.

"Good heavens, Buffy, are you alright?" Giles asks.

"Man, that thing had major grip." I choke out.

"What... what was that?" Willow asks.

"Looked like an arm." Oz says matter-of-factly.

"No..." Kendra says in disbelief. "Not even Drusilla is _that_ insane." She says. "She wouldn't..."

"Kendra?" I ask.

"Care to share?" Xander asks.

"It is a legend. I remember reading about it with me Watcher. Hundreds of years ago, a demon was brought forth to rid de Earth of de plague of humanity. To separate de righteous from de wicked, and burn de righteous. Dey called him de Judge."

"The Judge? This is he?" Giles asks, incredulously worried.

"Well, obviously not _all_ of him." Kendra says.

"Uh... still needing backstory here." I say.

"No weapon forged could kill him." Kendra explains. "An army was sent against him. Most of dem dies, but dey were finally able to dismember him, but not kill him. De pieces were scattered, buried in every corner of de Earth."

"You think they left his heart in San Francisco?" Xander asks, and everyone glares at him.

"I had that thought, too." Oz says to Xander, who nods.

"So all these pieces are being brought here." Ms. Calendar speculates. (That's right, I know the word "speculates". And people say all blondes are dumb!)

"By Drusilla." I confirm. "The vamps outside were Spike's men."

"No. Not even Drusilla is crazy enough to do it." Kendra shakes her head.

"On the contrary..." Giles says. "It may be that she's _just_ insane enough to do this." He says, taking off his glasses and wiping them clean with his rag.

"Do what?" Willow asks. "Reassemble the Judge?"

"And bring forth Armageddon." Kendra nods.

"Is anyone else gonna have cake?" Cordy asks, and everyone glares at her.

"We have to get this out of town." Giles says after a beat.

"Kendra." Ms. Calendar says, and Kendra refuses to meet my eyes.

"What?" I ask.

"You've got to do it." Ms. Calendar continues, ignoring me. "You know the most about the Judge, besides Giles, plus you've got the Slayer strength. You're the only one who can protect this thing."

"What about me?" I ask, everything falling apart around me.

"You're just going to skip town for a few months?"

"Months?" I whimper.

"She's right." Kendra mutters. I must hide de box in de most remote region possible."

"But that's not months..." I point out, my voice barely above a whisper.

"I can catch a cargo ship to Asia, maybe head for Nepal." Kendra says to Giles.

"You know, planes are faster, and safer..." I beg.

"You really tink dat airport security would let me get by with dat?" Kendra nods to the box. She says it like a joke, but I can tell she's breaking inside. She doesn't wanna leave me any more than I want her to leave. "I don't like dis any more dan you, Buffy. But dere's no other way."

"When?" I whisper.

"Tonight... As soon as possible..."

"But... It's my _birthday_!" Tears well up in my eyes and Kendra pulls me in to hug me.

"I'll be back, Buffy... I will. I promise..." She says, choking up.

Everyone else stands around, the party mood definitely ruined now.

...

"I should go de rest of de way alone..." Kendra whispers to me as we walk up to the ship. Ms. Calendar drove us and the box here.

"I'll be back." She assures me when I try, and fail, to smile. "I will"

"When? Six months? A year? Who knows how long it'll take. Or if we'll even..."

"If we'll even... what?" She asks hesitantly.

"Just... if you haven't noticed, someone pretty much always wants us dead."

"Don't say dat. We'll be fine."

"But we don't know."

"We can't know, Buffy. Nobody can. Dat's just de way it is." We stand there in a pained silence before Kendra starts to move. I look back up at her and see her pull her stake out of her pocket. "Here. Keep dis. Someting of mine to keep with you while I'm gone. I'll be back for it." She smiles half-heartedly.

I take Mr. Pointy from her and return the smile. I fish my own stake out of my jacket and hand it to her. "Here. Keep this. Something of mine to keep with you while you're gone." I return her words, and she smiles again, tears glistening in her eyes as she tries to stay strong and make the right choice.

She kisses me like we'll never kiss again, and who knows, we might never kiss again. Happy thoughts like that fuel the passion and we both finally let our tears fall.

"I don't want to do this." I say when we finally pull away.

"I don't, either." She says, squeezing my hand.

"So... let me come with you, then." I know that the box needs to be separated from the others, and two Slayers will make a better guard than one.

But Kendra shakes her head no.

"You need to stay here, Buffy. Dey can't fight off Drusilla and Spike without you. And if Drusilla and Spike aren't beaten, den I won't be able to come back. Stay here, kill dem, den call me, and I'll be back here in days."

"Please... don't go..." My voice is so small.

"Buffy... I-" But Kendra's interrupted by three vampires that jump out at us from nowhere, knocking us to the ground and sending the box sliding away.

The glasses-wearing vampire runs after the box while the other two take us on.

"Kendra! The box!" I shout. Kendra gives her vamp a nice thrust kick, pushing him away, then tackles Four-Eyes, sending the box sliding again.

My vamp knocks me into a bunch of wood, stunning me, then sweeps my legs out from under me, sending me falling into the water far below.

I hear a splash soon after mine, and I know it's Kendra by the way she pulls me to her. It's a good thing, too. If she hadn't saved me, then, in my daze, I'd have drowned.

...

"That's just the beginning." Xander's talking to Willow when Kendra and I walk back into the library in different clothes because of our unplanned bath. "You wanna hear the part where I fly into town in my private jet and take Buffy out for prime rib."

"Xander." Willow warns when she sees us.

"And she cries?" Xander finishes, then looks behind him, flushing when he sees us. I don't really care, though. We're btoh too tired to fight with Xander about his ridiculous fantasies.

"What happened?" Giles asks.

"Dru's guys ambushed us. They got the box." I explain.

"Where's Jenny?"

She dropped us off at the dock, and I told her to go on home. That was before the ambush. We would've been back sooner, but we had to stop by the house and get a change of clothes."

"And we were needing clothes because...?" Xander asked.

I glare at him. "We got wet. Giles, what do we know?" I turn back to Giles, not in the mood for Xander's antics.

"The more I study the Judge, the less I like him. His touch can literally burn the humanity out of you. A true creature of evil can survive the process. No human ever has."

"So what's the problem?" Xander asks. "We send Cordy to fight this guy and we go for pizza."

We all ignore him. "Can he be stopped? Without an army?" I ask.

Giles turns back to his book and reads. "Erm... Ah, here. "No weapon forged can kill him." Not very encouraging. But if we can keep them from assembling him..."

"We need to find his weak spots. And we need to figure out where they'd be keeping him." I say.

"This could take time." Giles points out.

"We better do a round robin." Willow suggests. "Xander, you go first."

"Good call." I agree as Xander gets up and walks over to the phone.

"Round robin?" Giles asks.

"Everybody calls everybody's mom and tells them they're at everybody else's house." Willow explains.

"Thus freeing us up for world savage." I finish.

"And all-night keggers." Willow says with a nod. We all stare at her. "What? Only Xander gets to make dumb jokes?"

"Hey mom. Listen, Willow and I are studying, I'm gonna stay over here... uh huh." Xander says on the phone. "Yeah. Yeah, no, probably gonna be an all-nighter. Got a big test coming up in Algebra, and Willow's got me studying... Uh..." Xander looks up at Willow and calls out so his mom can hear. "What are we studying tonight, Will?"

Willow panics, and I have a feeling that he did that just to be mean.

"Uh... Pythagorean theorem!" She blurts.

Xander puts the phone back up to his ear. "I don't know, something I can't really pronounce, so I'm not even gonna try. Anyway, I'll just let myself in if we get done early. Yeah. Okay, Mom. Bye." Xander hangs up and grins wickedly at Willow.

"That was just evil." Willow says as she stands up and walks over to the phone.

"Sorry. Couldn't resist." He said, grinning.

...

I'm dressed for a party for some reason. I don't know why, my birthday party was earlier, and it was ruined. Plus, it was a surprise party, so I didn't even know _to_ dress up. I'm wearing a nice black dress, though, obviously a party dress.

I recognize this place. It's the factory. Just an old abandoned factory. Black party decorations are all over the place, and I have to move them aside so I can keep walking.

"Hello? Who is that?" I ask when I see someone ahead of me. She turns, and I see it's Ms. Calendar. _What's she doing here? Is this her party?_

She ducks back into the shadows, however, and I'm very, very confused. On a quick inspection, I see that she's no longer there, so I just keep walking. Eventually, I see all of the Judge pieces in a circle, still in their boxes. I reach out for one, but a voice stops me. I recognize it.

_Drusilla_.

"Now now. Hands off my presents." She says. I look up at her and see she's holding Kendra, who's looking at me with fear in her eyes. Drusilla's got a knife to Kendra's throat, and I choke as I see the knife drawn slowly across her throat, red blood slowly seeping out through the cut.

"NO!" I scream.

Then, they're gone.

"Buffy?" I hear Kendra's voice somewhere.

I sit up abruptly and look into Kendra's eyes. Then throw my arms around her neck and sob into her shoulder.

""No! Kendra!" I scream, and her arms wrap around me tightly.

"It's okay..." She whispers, and I sob into her shoulder some more. "I'm here. I'm right here." She whispers soothingly.

After a few minutes, I stand up, determined not to let my dream happen.

"Buffy? Are you alright?" Giles asks after I walk out. Everyone's staring at me.

"Another dream." Kendra explains as I start gathering my weapons. I'm going to kill Drusilla and Spike, but first, we need to stake out the Factory.

"I think I know where Drusilla and Spike are." I say, not even looking at any of them.

"Very good. However, you need a plan." Giles says, standing in front of me. "I know you're concerned, but you can't just go off half-cocked."

"We have a plan." I say, and Giles rolls his eyes like "Here we go." "Kendra and I go to the Factory to do recon. See how far they've gotten assembling the Judge. You guys fan out and check places the boxes may be coming into town. Ship yards, the airport... We have to stop them from getting all the boxes in one place."

"Yes well..." Giles starts, then thinks for a minute. "That's... quite a good plan, actually."

_Okay, why do they all look so surprised? That's insulting. Sure, my plans sometimes aren't exactly the most strategic... And, okay, so maybe they don't always _work_, but I do have them. Most of them just involve a lot of kicking, punching and slaying. But that's what makes them brilliant! They're simple and to the point without a lot of wasting time, letting the enemy figure out what I'm doing._

Instead of saying that, though, I just say, "This thing is nasty and it's real, Giles. We don't have time to wait for it to come get us."

Kendra and I walk out the door before any of them can get out of their trance and react.

...

Kendra and I walk up to the front door with no resistance.

"Kendra... Maybe I should go in alone. I mean, if my dreams are so true-" I begin, but Kendra interrupts me.

"You're not going in alone, Buffy. Don't even try it."

I give in and nod.

"Okay, what do we do if the Judge is already put together."

"You're de one dat had de idea. I tink dat means you're automatically de leader in dis. You tell me what to do."

I nod and think. "If he's assembled... we retreat. Together. Get the others and work out some kind of strategy."

Kendra nods. "Den we have a plan."

"Deal."

We walk into the Factory and step out onto the balcony, looking down over Dru's party.

"I saw this." I whisper. "In my dream, the party..."

Kendra nods, then tenses up. I look at where she's looking and see some kind of blue demon guy in armor. Armor that looks very similar to the armor that was on the arm in the box.

The Judge looks around, sensing something, probably us.

"What?" Drusilla asks him. "What is it?"

"We have to get out of here." Kendra whispers urgently. I nod in agreement, then we slowly start to back up, only to run into a group of vampires cutting off our escape.

They grab us and drag us downstairs to the Judge.

"Well well. Look what we have here. Crashers." Spike says with a grin.

"I'm sure our invitations just got lost in the mail." I fire back, not wanting them to see how scared I actually am. On the bright side, I know now that my dream isn't going to come true. Drusilla won't be killing Kendra, the Judge will kill us both. Yay.

"It's delicious." Drusilla says as she runs a finger across my cheek, and Kendra struggles against her captors to get to me and get Dru away.

"Get away from her!" Kendra snaps.

"Yeah." Spike says sarcastically, rolling his eyes. "That'll work. Now say pretty please."

"The Slayers." The Judge says, stepping forward and glancing from me to Kendra, then back again.

"Chilling, isn't it?" Drusilla asks gleefully. "They're so full of good intention."

"Yeah, they just _reek_ of humanity, don't they?" Spike asks with a sinister grin that makes him look like an idiot.

The Judge steps forward to touch me, and Kendra whimpers before slamming an elbow into one vampire's face, sweeping the legs out from under another. She runs right up to the Judge and stands between him and me.

"Take me." She pleads. "Take me instead of her."

"You're not clear on the concept, Slayer." Spike says, hanging his head in disbelief. "There is no "instead". Just _first_ and _second_. Though, if you go first, that means that Blondie over there gets to watch..." Spike contemplates for a minute. "Right then. Do here first." Spike nods to Kendra.

"NO!" I scream, and I flip over my captors' heads, then slam them in the spines with my elbows. They crumple to the ground and I run up to kick the Judge.

"Don't touch him, Buffy!" Kendra shouts.

The Judge grabs me, and I start to shake. The seizure wrecks through my body, and my eyes roll up into the back of my head.

I feel like I'm burning from the inside out. I'm getting weaker. Then, it stops. I collapse to the ground, gasping, then stand up with Kendra's help. I look around and see that she's managed to drop a ton of TVs on the Judge.

I see that the crash smashed through the floor, revealing an entrance to the sewers, so I drag Kendra over to it.

"This way." I say weakly, and we jump into the sewer, then take off running as fast as I can. Eventually, Kendra just picks me up and carries me, taking advantage of her Slayer strength.

She runs over to an alcove and sets me down, sitting down across from me. The shadows hide us, and the vampires that Dru and Spike sent after us run right past us.

We wait for a while, allowing me to regain some of my strength, then we both find the nearest exit out of the sewers.

It's raining outside now, so we're quickly drenched to the skin as we run down the streets towards my mom's house.

"I think we lost them." I say as we walk up the walkway.

"Come on, Buffy. You need to get inside." She says, and I finally feel a large cut on my back, and notice how badly I'm shivering in the cold.

I nod as I open the door, and we walk inside.

"M-m-mom is g-g-gone... Out of t-t-t-t-t-town." I stammer, shaking. She hurries me up to my room.

"You're shaking badly." She says as she closes my door.

"C-c-c-c-cold."

"Let m-me get you something." I look over at Kendra and notice that she's shivering, too, and her lips are almost purple, but she's more concerned about me. She walks over to my dresser and digs through my drawer, finding a pair of flannel pajamas and bringing them over to me.

She turns around to let me change, but I wince when my shirt rubs against my cut.

"What is it?" She asks, very worried.

"I-I think I g-g-got c-cut... On m-m-my b-back or s-something."

She doesn't say anything, just turns me around and slips my shirt off to look at the cut.

"It's not very big, and it's already closed." She says in relief. It certainly _feels_ big, though.

I nod and stand back up, slipping my jeans off, then turn back towards my bed to grab the pajamas, never minding that I'm now facing Kendra in nothing but a bra and panties.

"B-B-Buffy..." Kendra whispers, still shivering. I'm now certain that she hasn't noticed how cold she really is.

"Shh." I say, putting my finger to her lips. "You're freezing." She finally notices, then nods frantically, allowing me to help her remove her own shirt and jeans.

Only then do I notice that we're both now standing next to my bed, almost completely naked.

Kendra notices, too, and she turns and shies away, nervous. The temperature in the room just rose enough to warm us back up again.

I remember my talk with Willow, the one about "seizing". I remember how I told her that I'm ready.

I remember how I always used to imagine my first time. I wanted the romantic movie. I wanted the scented candles lighting the room, the rose petals leading up the stairs, over to my bed, covering the blanket, deep, romantic music playing. But now, I know that none of that matters. I'm never going to have a more perfect moment.

I walk over to Kendra and put my hand on her shoulder. She tenses as I turn her back around to face me. I pull her down towards me and kiss her. She melts into it, and our lips and tongues move against each other, dancing for what feels like hours, though I know it's only a few seconds.

"Buffy..." She whispers. "Maybe we shouldn't-"

"Shh." I hush her. "Don't. Just... Just kiss me."

She looks at me with wide eyes for several minutes, and I begin to wonder if maybe _she's_ the one that's not ready. But then, she nods, and our lips meet again. I lead us back over to the bed, laying down slowly. She lays down on top of me, still kissing me, and our cores meet again, through our panties.

I don't mind the barriers this time, though, because I know they're going to be gone soon, and I'm content to take it all slow, savoring each moment.

I believe Kendra feels the same way, because she makes no move to remove anything. She just relaxes, settling onto me, though keeping herself up just enough to not crush me.

Her legs move to either side of mine, and she gently grabs and squeezes my hands as we still kiss.

Even though we just got out of the sewers, and we were inches away from death less than an hour ago, none of her kisses have ever been sweeter. She starts to pull away, but I don't want to lose her lips on mine, so I sit up with her, continuing the kiss.

She moves my hands around her back, and I smile as I feel her bra clasp under my fingers. I slowly undo the clasps, and I feel her bra loosen up as the last one comes undone. She pulls away just enough for her bra to slide down her arms, then she drops it to the floor.

I look down to see her newly revealed breasts, and my breath hitches.

She looks at me nervously, but I smile reassuringly at her, then gently push on her so she'd roll to the side, laying on her back, and I straddle her. I lean down and kiss her again, my hands sliding up her sides, grazing the sides of her breasts, and she shivers in anticipation. I let my lips slip away from hers, trailing kisses along her jaw, then down her neck. I bite down gently on her pulse, and she moans quietly, the sound reverberating to my core. I cup her breasts, feeling her hardened buds firm up even more under my touch. They feel like they're so tight right now, it should be almost painful.

I squeeze gently, and her eyes drift down to look into mine as I trail my kisses across her throat, sucking on her pulse on the other side of her neck.

My hands slide down just enough so that the tips of my fingers brush against her nipples, and she lets out a quiet moan again that's only a little louder than the one earlier, but it affects me almost twice as much as the one before. I roll her buds between my fingers, pinching gently, and she arches into my touch, her breathing becoming ragged, her moans becoming a little louder and more high-pitched.

I suck hard on her pulse as I pull away, pulling the skin on her neck with me, until it snaps away from my lips with a _pop_. She stops breathing for a second, and her hands finally slide up my back, holding me close.

I manage to loosen her hold enough that I can slowly slide down her body, trailing kisses down her throat, her sternum, then down one of her breasts until my lips come into contact with her nipple, and she moans again. I love the way she moans no matter how I touch her. It shows me that whatever I'm doing, I'm doing it right.

I place a kiss on her bud, then open my lips enough for it to slip into my mouth. The moan that escapes now lasts much longer than the ones before it, and I want to draw it out as long as I can, so I flick my tongue across it, then tighten my lips enough that her back arches again, and her eyes clench shut.

My other hand continues to roll her other nipple, and I start to suck on the one in my mouth, loving the sounds I can get her to make. My teeth graze across her rock-hard bud, and she gasps. I think I like that one the best, so I do it again, the sound sending shivers down my spine.

I release her nipple, dragging my tongue across her dark skin, down the valley between her breasts, up the inside of her other breast, then around the area around her other nipple. My right hand returns to her other breast and I massage it, rubbing her nipple in circles with my palm. I can hear her heart beating rapidly. It's thudding against her ribcage, beating a hundred miles an hour, the speed contradicting the speed I want to take this. I want to worship her, taking in everything, making every second last all night.

Her hands are gripping the back of my head, holding me there, fisting my hair, showing me that she's very much enjoying what I'm doing.

"Buffy..." She whimpers when I pull back on her nipple with my teeth, gentle enough to not actually hurt.

I sit up slowly, staring down at her. Her chest is rising and falling as she struggles to catch her breath, and her nipples look like little balls of rock on top of her breasts.

"Buffy..." She whispers when she finally calms down enough to speak. She reaches up and pulls me back down to her, hands sliding around to my back and undoing my bra clasps, the garment joining hers on the floor.

She flips us over so she's resting between my legs, our centers meeting nicely, still separated by our panties, but I don't have time to think about how frustrating the barriers are becoming, because her lips immediately attach themselves to one of my nipples, her tongue wrapping around it as she starts sucking, spurred on by her desire for me. She's struggling to maintain a slow, steady pace, even though it's what we both want, and I understand. I'm almost at war with myself, part of me wanting to savor this, the other part wanting to ravage her, to be rough with it and dominate her. I'm betting that the rough, dominating part, though, is the demonic presence that lies inside all Slayers, though, the part of us that gives us the strength to fight the forces of darkness.

But we manage to force that part down right now, and love each other, rather than dominate each other. We both want to savor this, so savoring it is exactly what we're going to do.

Her tongue draws circles around my nipple while she sucks on it, and I have to force myself not to cry out in pleasure, instead only letting out a small whimper as my hands grip her head, pulling her closer, almost _deeper_ into me. I hold on to her as an anchor, like if I don't hold on to _something_, _anything_, then I'll float away, leave this world behind. And if I leave this world, then I won't be feeling what I'm feeling right now.I won't be feeling _her_. I won't be feeling what she's doing to me. No, what she's doing _for_ me.

"Kendra..." I whine when I don't feel her lips on my nipple again, and I start to open my eyes again when I feel them on my other nipple again, repeating everything she did to the other one. She rolls my first nipple between her fingers, just like I did hers, and it becomes harder and harder under her touch, til it's almost painful, but a good kind of pain. A kind of pain I wouldn't mind feeling for the rest of my life, as long as it's her that's doing it to me.

Finally, though, I want to move this along, even though I _really_ love the sensations she's making me feel, so I flip us back over again so I'm straddling her waist. I lean back down and place a kiss between her breasts, then start sliding down her body again, trailing kisses as I work my way down. Her eyes grow wide as she realizes what's happening, and she throws her head back and groans when I finally place a kiss on top of her drenched, now see-through, white cotton panties.

I taste her wetness on my lips and I have to sigh. She tastes so sweet, and I can't wait to taste her for real.

I lick her panties along her slit, which I can clearly see through the wet material, and a very loud moan escapes her lips as she grips the blanket below her. I sit up again, then hook my fingers under the edge of her last article of clothing, then slowly slide them down her hips, freezing when her sex is finally free.

I gasp when I can just about see my reflection in her dripping wet core, then shake my head so I can regain enough composure to finish what I started. I finish sliding her panties down and off her legs, tossing them somewhere behind me. I nudge Kendra's legs further apart with my hand, then sit back, staring down at my stunning, gorgeous, beautiful, perfect girlfriend as she tries, and fails, to catch her breath.

I slide off my bed, my feet hitting the floor, then stand up. She looks up at me, panicking, but I once again smile reassuringly down at her. I bend over and slide my own panties down my legs, stepping out of them. I join her back on the bed, laying back down on top of her, our clits finally meeting with nothing between them, and we both exhale shakily. I lower myself some more, and our sexes press into each other, causing us to arch into each other. Her arms wrap tightly around me, and she buries her face in my neck. I relax again, and press more firmly into her, finally allowing my weight to settle on her almost completely.

"I love you." I whisper into her ear, and I can feel her shiver at the sound.

"I love you, too, Buffy." She whispers in response, her voice dripping with as much desire as we are. We both moan together as I start to slowly move back and forth, grinding my hips into hers, rubbing our clits together with such delicious friction. I set a slow pace, not worried about the end result, only the journey there. I'm not worried about anything, actually, I'm just enjoying being with Kendra, loving her, feeling her love for me, and making love to her.

Her hips move opposite of mine, making the friction between us that much sweeter, and we both whimper. We want more. But we don't press any harder, or move any faster. It's almost like we're teasing each other with it. Which, actually, I guess we kind of are, but it's not about teasing, it's about what everything up until now has been about, relishing in every moment, every movement, making each second last forever. Because the climax isn't important. It's everything leading up to it that matters. I almost never want to find that ending, because that's what it'll be: an ending.

I can feel the ending slowly building inside me, but I try to fight it down, wanting this to last as long as possible. Kendra must be able to feel it, too, but she's eager for the climax. Feeling her grinding harder and harder into me, I get more and more excited, and suddenly, I can't wait for it, either. I want to experience it with Kendra.

I start to gradually increase my speed. Only small bits, like when you're riding your bike down a gradual hill, not pedaling, you just let gravity do its job and your bike speeds up on its own. I just let myself speed up, rather than force the speed. I just let my body control itself, let it set the speed, like I do when I'm slaying. I just let my body take over, not thinking anything.

We're both panting heavily now, gasping for air, never slowing down or relaxing our grip on each other. Instead, we press harder into each other, as hard as we can, and we start moving as fast as we can once our orgasms slam into us, to prolong them, and we're crying out in ecstasy.

We grind harder and faster. Faster and harder. And harder. I feel the liquid fire deep inside me surge outwards and erupt, spilling out and drenching Kendra below me, and the bed below her. I feel her clit throbbing beneath me, and finally, she lets loose, too, her own sweet nectar coating my sex and inside of our thighs, dripping down onto the bed.

When our orgasms finally fade, and we come down from our high, I feel my hips aching, and I realize that the pressure we'd been putting on each other's hips was enough to almost bruise ourselves and each other. My legs feel like jelly, and I can't hold myself up anymore, so I use the last of my strength to roll off of her. We lay there, beside each other, trying desperately to catch our breath, while actually enjoying the breathlessness we've given each other. I turn my head to look into her eyes, and our lips surge forward, meeting in the middle as we kiss lovingly, passionately, yet gentle and lazy.

We scoot up enough for me to pull the blanket up to cover us, then we relax into each other's embrace, one of my legs slipping in between hers, my hip pressing nicely into her still throbbing and dripping sex, and her hip pressing into mine. We both groan at the contact, but we're too tired to go again, so we just press our bodies into each other and fall asleep in each other's arms. And I've never had a better night's sleep in my life.

...

[Omniscient POV]:

"You lost them." Dru snaps angrily at her minions. Spike sits off to the side, grinning. He loves seeing Drusilla angry. "You lost my favorite play things. Now I won't get to hear them scream."

"Oh, come off it, luv." Spike says half-heartedly. "You'll still hear them scream. Just get to have some more fun trackin' 'em down first, is all."

"Promise?" Dru asks, smiling her crazy smile at Spike.

"I promise, pet. We'll make sure you get to have your fun with them before we feed them to our friend here." Spike replies, nodding towards the Judge.

"I'll make them beg for it." Dru says dreamily, smiling again.

Spike clears his throat. "Um, Dru, you're forgetting something though, aren't you, pet?"

"What?" She asks disappointedly.

Spike glances towards their minions, the ones who'd lost the Slayers in the sewer, and they whimper. "They _did_ fail you, luv. Aren't you going to discipline them?"

Dru glances towards them as well, then makes almost a clucking sound with her tongue. "What should I do?" She asks Spike.

"Do whatever you want. Dealer's choice an' all that."

Drusilla walks up to her minions and looks each of them in the eye. She holds up two fingers and points at one of the vampires' eyes. She circles his eyes in the air with her fingers, then plunges forward, stabbing him in the eyes with her fingernails, screeching gleefully when his blood started dripping down onto his shirt. She twists her fingers in his sockets, and he screams in agony. She pulls her fingers out and licks them clean, moaning at the taste of blood.

"That's enough fun now, pet." Spike says, and Drusilla pouts at him.

"Pretty please?"

"No, luv. Unfortunately, as useless as they are, we still need them if you want to catch those bloody Slayers again."

Dru whines disappointedly, but walks over and sits down in Spike's lap.

All of a sudden, lights start shimmering on the floor.

"What the-?" Spike asks, then Dru gasps when she sees someone lying on the floor, wearing nothing as the lights die down. She recognizes him immediately.

"Daddy?" She gasps.

Spike's eyes widen. "Angelus?"

**AN: By the way, for those of you who are imagining him this way, Spike is NOT in a wheelchair in this chapter. Remember, he and Dru got away from the church before it collapsed on top of him in this story.**


	5. Innocence

Chapter 5- Innocence

I wake up to sunlight streaming through the window, but Kendra is nowhere to be seen. I crawl out of bed, smiling as I feel an ache between my legs that reminds me of exactly what happened last night. It was amazing, everything I'd ever hoped it would be. It was perfect, and I wouldn't change a single second of it.

But then... where's Kendra?

"Kendra?" I call out, but there's no answer. I put on the pair of pajamas Kendra had pulled out for me last night and walk out of my room, then go across the hall. Maybe Kendra woke up last night, and for some reason decided to go back to her own room. Maybe my mom came home last night while Kendra was in the bathroom, and Kendra didn't want to arouse her suspicions, so she went back into her own room. It's perfectly logical.

I knock on Kendra's door, but when there's no answer, I open it to find her bed neatly made, her room spotless as usual. She's not in here. I look down the hall towards the bathroom, but there's no light on under the door, so no one's in there. I walk downstairs to find my mom sitting at the table drinking a cup of coffee. Alone.

"Hey Mom, have you seen Kendra?" I ask.

"I'd imagine she'd be up in her room, sleeping off last night's activities." Mom says.

"No, she's... Wait, wha-... What _activities_?" I ask nervously.

"The surprize party." She says, and her tone all but screams _"Duh!"._ "Mr. Giles told me he and all of your friends were planning on throwing a surprize party for you down at the Bronze."

"Oh..." I say. "R-r-right. The s-... Surprize party. No, I already checked, Kendra's not in her room. Or the bathroom, either. The light was off."

"Huh... Well, anyway, I'm sorry I wasn't at the party last night, but there was a new shipment of Ancient Mesopotamian pottery that arrived in LA yesterday evening, but they needed me to sign for it. I told them to hold it until tomorrow, but they said there would be all these fees, and, well, long story short, it was too much. I figured maybe you and me could have our own little party here at the house tonight, and you can invite all your friends, if you want. Or, it could be just you, me and Kendra, if you'd prefer that. Whatever you want."

I smile at her. "That sounds great, Mom. I'll talk to the guys about it. But first, I definitely need to find Kendra."

My mom shrugs, as if to say "I don't know where she is." Which is funny, because I didn't ask her again.

"Mom?" I ask, and she looks up at me while still taking another sip of her coffee.

"Hmm?" She asks.

"Where's Kendra?"

"I don't know, Buffy."

"Mom!" I exclaim, because she obviously does know.

She sets her cup down in defeat, knowing I have her figured out. "Alright, alright! She told me not to say anything, but she went to get you a birthday present. She said she was so busy yesterday keeping you occupied and away from the party planning that she didn't have time to get you anything.

I smile. "But... She already gave me my present..." I say out loud before I can stop myself.

And somehow, just from that, my genius, overanalytical, extremely nosy mom figures it out.

"Buffy?" She asks with wide eyes.

"Mom?" I fire back instantly, trying to avoid the unasked question.

"Buffy?!"

"Mom?!"

She pauses and takes a deep breath. And I know this is that horrifying moment that always happens on tv when the mom or dad finds out their son or daughter had sex for the first time. That moment when they'll react one of two different ways: they'll either get pissed and lecture the kid on responsibility and maturity, saying they did it way too soon... or even more terrifying, they'll ask how it was.

Knowing my mom, she'll probably lecture me on maturity and timing. But then again, knowing my mom's tendency to surprise me... it could really go either way.

I wait for the words.

"So... How was it?" She asks, a slight smile.

I groan. _Of course, she _would_ choose to go for the _last_ thing I wanna hear from her._

"I mean... was she... gentle and patient, or... I mean, I don't want, like, _details_ or anything, but... God, what am I supposed to say?" If at all possible, my mom is freaking out just as bad if not worse than I am right now. "I mean, I watch parents on tv go through this situation all the time, but I still have no idea how I'm supposed to react!"

Finally, she stops herself and takes a deep breath. "So...?" She doesn't have to ask it again. I know I'm gonna have to talk about it.

"It was... nice." I say finally.

"Oh, honey... I'm sorry." She says, and I quirk an eyebrow.

"Why?"

"Well... isn't that what teenagers say when it wasn't what they'd been hoping for?" She asks.

"No!" I exclaim. "I just... Bit uncomfortable with this topic of conversation, mom. But... It was. Nice, I mean. It really, really was. She was sweet, didn't pressure me into it... It was... perfect."

She smiles. "And you have no regrets?"

"No. None." I don't even hesitate to answer that one. I don't even have to think about my answer for it.

"Well then... I suppose... I suppose the Maternal Inquisition is over." I sigh in relief.

"Oh, thank god."

Of course, just then, Kendra would decide to walk in. Mom and I turn towards her and she sees our blushing. She knows instantly what's going on, and she gently sets the bags in her hands down on the coffee table and groans.

"Oh boy." She says, and the look on her face is almost comical. I'd be laughing if I wasn't so mortified from the questioning.

"Kendra, won't you have a seat?" Mom asks, and I whip back around to face her.

"Mom, you said it was over!" I whisper.

"And for you, it is. Now, why don't you go get ready for school? I want to talk to Kendra alone now."

"Mom!" I hiss, but she just glares at me. Finally, I cave. I stand up and look at Kendra apologetically. I start to walk past her, but first, I pull her to me and kiss her gently for luck.

...

I walk into the library just in time to literally bump into Willow and Xander.

"Buffy!" Willow exclaims.

"We were just going to rescue you." Xander explains.

"Well, _some_ of us were." Willow says, looking at Cordy, Giles and Ms. Calendar out of the corner of her eyes.

"I would have..." Giles says defensively.

"Where's Kendra?" Ms. Calendar asks.

"At home, needing a kind of rescuing none of us can provide." I answer, and everyone looks at me funny. "As in "mom talk" in progress." They seem to get it from that.

Well, not get "it" from that, because I'm making sure to keep everything about "it" out of what I'm saying, but they understand that Kendra's beyond our help now.

"What happened?" Cordy asks.

"Is the Judge...?" Giles trails off. Guess it's time to work.

"No assembly required." I confirm, nodding. "He's active."

"Damn it." Giles curses.

"He nearly killed us. Kendra got us out." I admit.

"Why didn't you call?" Giles asks. "We thought-"

"Well, uh... we had to hide... stuck in the sewer tunnels... and with the hiding..." I say nervously. I really should have thought to come up with a better back story than that.

"Buffy, the Judge... We have to stop him." Giles says, bringing us back to the original topic.

"I know."

"What can you tell us?"

"Not much. I just touched him... kicked him... and it was like a sudden fever. If he'd gotten his hands on me..."

"In time he won't have to." Giles says softly, sitting down. "The stronger he gets... he'll be able to burn us all with a look."

"Also, not the _prettiest_ man in town." I quip, hoping to lighten the mood a bit.

"I'll just have to keep researching, look for a weakness. You should all get to your classes." Giles says, not taking the bait.

...

After school, I meet up with Kendra on the front lawn.

"So how'd it go?" I ask. She groans.

"Three hours. She asked me questions and lectured me for three hours." Kendra whines. "Oh, starting tomorrow, I have to come to school with you."

I look at her in surprise. "What?"

Kendra nods. "Your mom does not want me staying home all day every day anymore. So she said she wanted me to either get a job or get enrolled in school." She smiles at me. "I tought I'd choose school because it would mean spending a little more time with you every day." I return her grin and pull her in for a searing kiss.

"Hey... Listen... I want to talk to you about last night." I say as we start walking.

Kendra tenses up.

"Oh, no! It's nothing to be tense about!" I assure her, and smile for effect. "I just wanted to say that last night was... in a word... amazing. I don't think I've ever slept so well as I did last night. And I just wanted to say... thank you."

She lets out a breath in relief and smiles at me. "I'm glad you enjoyed it, Buffy. It was... amazing... for me, too. And I know for a _fact_ dat I've never slept so well before."

"I feel so close to you. I mean, even closer than we already were." I put my arm around her waist and my smile grows when I feel her arm drape around my shoulders.

"I love you, Buffy."

"I love you, too, Kendra."

Then, something catches my eye. No, not something. Some_one_. Standing in the shade of a building, blocking out the sun. A long black leather coat covering black slacks and a black t-shirt. His brown hair kind of messy.

I freeze as I recognise him, and Kendra looks where I'm looking, and she gasps.

"Angel?" I say. Someone walks past him right then, blocking him from my view for only a split second, but when the person is gone, so is Angel.

...

"Will, I know I saw him!" I say into the phone. Mom is at work, and Kendra and I are talking to Willow and the others via phone, since they're all at the library, still doing homework for Big-Blue-Demonology 101.

_"Buffy, we all know he's gone. And you saw-"_

"Yeah, I know that! I know what I saw that night! I saw him turn to ashes. Kendra saw him turn to ashes! But I saw him _today_! And Kendra saw him, too!" I turn to Kendra. "Tell her!"

She sighs. "Unfortunately, it is true. I did see him as well. It was definitely Angel."

_"But that's... That's impossible!"_

"Yeah, Will. I know. But it's true. Angel was there!" I look at Kendra and see she's fighting off tears. "Look, Will, I gotta go. Um... Kendra and I'll come back to the library, and we'll figure out where to go from there."

_"Okay, Buffy. Just... be careful. Spike and Drusilla might not be able to walk in sunlight, but the Judge might be able to."_

"You got it. Bye." I hang up and turn to Kendra. "I know what you're thinking." I say.

"What?"

"I know what you're thinking, and stop it. It's not gonna happen. Just because Angel is back does _not_ mean that I'm going to go back to him. I love _you_, Kendra. Okay? I _love_ you, and I'm not going to dump you just because my vampire ex-boyfriend is back in town. In fact, the next time I see him, I'm going to make sure he knows that I'm with you, and that I intend to stay that way."

Kendra relaxes slightly, but doesn't seem convinced.

I get an idea. "Come on." I say, grabbing Kendra's hand and leading her out the front door.

"Where are we going, Buffy?"

"You'll see."

...

I lead Kendra back to Angel's old apartment, thinking maybe we'd run into him there.

"Angel?" I call out as I walk inside.

"Hey." He says, and he hugs me when I turn to see him. "Oh, God, I was so worried." he said.

"Sorry. Didn't mean to startle you, if I did." I apologize, pushing him away gently.

"What's going on?" He asked. He looks at Kendra. "I saw you earlier. I thought you were going back to Jamaica, or something? Unless... Was the situation with Spike and Dru not resolved?"

I look back at Kendra. "Kind of... They, um... They succeeded. They won. Dru got better, and she and Spike ran away, went into hiding. You... You died..."

Angel's eyes narrow. "You... You don't seem too broken up about it."

"Well... I've had a bit of time to adjust." I explain.

"How long? If it's long enough to just get over my death, I'd figure that you'd have had enough time to finish Spike and Drusilla."

I recoil at that. I don't remember Angel being so blunt. "Um... It's been a few... It's been a few weeks."

"Weeks? That's all? That's all it took you to get over me? A few weeks?"

"Hey, just back off, Angel." Kendra says, putting her hand on his chest and pushing him away slightly. He takes a deep breath to calm down.

"You're right. Sorry. I guess... I've just been in a Hell dimension for about ten years, is all. Only a few weeks have passed here, but to me it's been a decade. I'm just glad I'm back. I, um... I guess we can't just pick up where we left off, can we?" He asks me, ignoring Kendra.

"No." I admit.

"Well... I'll wait. I'll do whatever it takes." He says.

"I'm sorry, Angel, but that's not going to happen." I say, and he looks at me in confusion.

"What do you mean?"

"You and me... We're not going to happen. I'm... kind of involved with someone else."

Angel looks like he's just been sucker punched.

"I see... Who is he?"

"Actually... He's a she."

And sucker punch again.

"Oh... Willow?" He asks.

"No!" I exclaim, and shudder at the thought. "Willow's more like a sister to me, and that's just... eugh! No... Her name's... Kendra." I say, and he furrows his eyebrows.

"Kendra?" Kendra crosses her arms, and we wait, expectantly. Finally, Kendra loses patience.

"It's me!" She says. "She's with me, got it?"

I smile at Kendra's possessiveness, and I swear, the frown Angel's wearing now somehow doesn't make it to his eyes. His eyes almost... _smile_.

"Huh... Who'd have thought that old Buffy would be so hurt by my death that when she rebounds, she turns into a _dyke_?" Angel asks aloud. Kendra tenses up and pulls back to punch him, but I grab her fist.

"Don't, Kendra. He's just lashing out. He's hurting." I say, and she nods. I know he's just lashing out, but that actually kind of stung.

"Maybe you've been a dyke all along, and never even knew it. Maybe that's why you never let me touch you." Angel says to me.

"Angel..." I warn.

"So how long did it take you to jump her, Buffy? Or did she jump you? Were you just so desperate for someone to love that you just _gave it up_ to the first person who'd actually be willing to _take_ it?"

Tears well up in my eyes. I knew he'd lash out, but I didn't know it would be this bad. I thought he cared about me.

"Why are you saying these things, Angel?" I ask. "I thought you-"

"What?" He interrupts me. "You thought I loved you? That I'd never wanna do anything to hurt you? Well, newsflash: I only acted like that to get in your pants!"

I stop breathing then, and I can't react in time to stop Kendra from hauling off and punching him in the face. He falls to the ground and catches her next punch, throwing her across the room to land on his bed. He stands up.

"'Cause obviously, that's all you're good for." He continues. "Don't you know? I mean, your dad left you. None of your friends from LA have even bothered to contact you. Your parents locked you up in a _loony bin_ a few years ago. Obviously, no one loves you. I'll bet the only reason _she's_ stayed with you this long..." He nods to Kendra, who's holding her shoulder and groaning as she slides off his bed. "... is 'cause you let her screw you. Maybe that's the secret to making people love you, huh? You should just sleep with everyone you meet, and then everyone'll love you!" The son of a bitch laughs. I'm in tears, crying over everything he's saying, and he's _laughing_.

"Get away from me." I sob. Angel laughs and takes a step towards me, but I flinch back. "Get away from me!" I scream. Kendra is suddenly right beside me.

"Ya heard her, Angel. Get away from her." She growls.

""Ya got it, Kenny."" Angel says.

"That's original. Make fun of me accent." Kendra fires back. "And here I tought you were supposed to be some genius when it came to mind games. Seems dat de records have overestimated ya, _Angelus_."

Then, it clicks. That's what's going on. I don't know how Angel's alive... or undead, rather, but somehow, he is. And whatever brought him back brought him back without a soul.

_Angelus is back..._

Angelus turns to look at me, and he grins, fangs shining in the candle light.

"Well done, Buffy. You've figured it all out. Took you long enough."

"Angelus..." I whisper.

"The one and only." Angelus grins. "And I owe it all to you, Buffy!"

Kendra turns to look at me. If I were someone else, _I'd_ be turning to look at me, too.

"What? What did I do?" I ask.

"Her." Angel said, amused, nodding to Kendra. We both look at him in confusion. "Oh, you meant about the whole resurrection and _finally_ losing that pesky soul thing? Remember that little ritual Spike did to heal Dru? Needed the blood of the sire, and needed to be performed in a church? Well, it turns out, the church part was just to keep the sire, that'd be me, from _rising_ again after the ritual was performed. So you see, when you burned down the church, you also guaranteed my resurrection! So thank you, so much for that, Buffy. I really owe ya one." He grins at me, then clicks his tongue and winks.

"No... The church is still standing!" I protest.

"Oh, yeah, about that, no it's not. Geez, Buffy, if only you'd watch tv, or read a newspaper or something. You'd have learned that the church ruins were torn down yesterday morning. But they wouldn't have _needed_ to be torn down if you hadn't gone and burnt the thing down. So thanks again. COuldn't have done it without ya. So just keep that in mind while I go kill all your friends." He says as he dashes out the front door.

Kendra and I chase after him. Two Slayers against one vampire, he doesn't stand a chance. Unfortunately, when we get outside, Angel's nowhere to be found.

"Where are de others?" Kendra asks.

"The library." I say, and we take off towards the school. That's where Angelus is headed.

...

"Wrong. I am Angel. Angelus. At last." Angelus says to Ms. Calendar. She, Xander and Willow are facing Angelus in the hallway right now as Kendra and I walk in.

"Oh my god..." Xander gasps as it sinks in.

"I've got a message for Buffy." Angelus says.

"Then give it to me yourself." I growl, and Angelus whirls around to see me.

"Well, it's not really a message you can _tell_. It sort of involves finding the bodies of all your friends... Then having to slay them all one... by... one... as they rise."

"This can't be you..." I say softly.

"We already covered that subject!" He says, exasperated.

Xander takes the crucifix from Ms. Calendar and sneaks up behind Angelus.

"Angel... there must be some part of you inside that remembers who you are." I say. Kendra looks at me, hurt that I'm actually putting love in my voice, but I squeeze her hand to let her know I'm just trying to keep him distracted so Xander can get him.

She nods at me slightly.

"Dream on, schoolgirl. Your boyfriend is dead." Angelus says, grinning. "You're all gonna join him."

"Just leave Willow alone. Deal with me. I'm the one you want, anyway, right? Sever the things that tie you to humanity? Well that's not Willow, that's me."

"But she's so cute and helpless. It's really a turn on-" Angelus hisses as Xander thrusts the crucifix in his face, and he drops Willow, backing away quickly.

I charge, stake at the ready, but he disarms me easily and grabs me.

"Things are going to get very interesting." He says, then he kisses me. Not like Angel kissed me. Not like Kendra kisses me. This kiss is hard, rough, and violent, and not at all enjoyable. He throws me down on the ground like I'm nothing but a doll to be discarded, then he runs away.

"Buffy, are you okay?" Xander asks.

"Buffy?" Willow's voice seems distant now. Why is everything so dark? It wasn't this dark, even with the lights all turned off. Oh... I'm blacking out...

...

Everyone around me is talking about stuff. I'm not really paying attention, I'm still recovering from my blackout episode. Kendra's sitting beside me.

"Are ya okay, Buffy?" She asks. I shake my head no.

"No... Not really. I mean, I can't really think straight right now, you know? It was just... God, I used to be _in love_ with him. It's... so hard for me to see him like that, because I'm so used to the kind, caring Angel that I was in love with. That's all I see any time I look at him. But to see that Angel... as Angelus instead..."

Kendra winces, and not because of her shoulder, which we found out was dislocated when she slammed into Angel's wall. We got it back in place, but it's still bothering her.

"Kendra, I told you earlier, I'm in love with you now, not Angel. It doesn't mean I don't still care about him, but even if that _was_ Angel, and not Angelus, I wouldn't leave you. I'll never leave you."

She nods. "I know... But it doesn't mean I have to like it."

I smile. "I know."

"Is there anything I can do?" Willow asks as she walks up to me.

I shake my head. "I should have known. I saw him back at his apartment, and he... he said things. He was different."

"What things?" Giles asks.

"It's... It's private." I say, and Kendra nods.

"Yes, I'm not too keen on hearing dat again, either." Kendra agrees.

"Oh? Then he attempted to rile you up as well?"

"No. He focused on Buffy. But still. De tings he said... I wanted to take a crucifix, sharpen it to a point, then drive it trough his stomach and watch it burn him to death... slowly."

Willow gulps as she takes a step or two away from Kendra.

"But you didn't know he'd turned bad?" Ms. Calendar asked.

I shake my head. "Not until he was walking out the door. Something Kendra said, it triggered something in my head, and I figured it out then. But he'd already gotten to me." I admit.

"How did _you_?" Willow asks Ms. Calendar.

"What?"

"You knew. You told me to get away from him." She accuses.

"Well... I saw his face..." Ms. Calendar answers.

"And Buffy, you're sure you don't know how all this happened?" Giles asked before any of us can really think about her answer.

I shake my head. "Not really. I mean, he said it had something to do with me burning down the church that Spike did the ritual to cure Drusilla in, but I think he was just playing mind games with me, making me think that it's my fault he's back."

Giles pulls out the Duloc manu-whatsit and starts reading. "Um... er... Ah, yes... Unfortunately, he was telling the truth on that account. The part that the ritual is to be performed in a church was to prevent the sire from rising again after the ritual's completion. But if the church is destroyed, then the sire rises again." He sets the book down and cleans his glasses. "But still... I still don't know why Angel would rise again without his soul. He died with a soul, he should have risen again with it as well."

"Or what if the ritual did the same thing for Angel that it did for Drusilla?" Willow suggests, and we all turn to look at her. "I mean, the ritual removed Drusilla's sickness, the thing that was keeping her weak. What if the ritual removed Angel's soul, too, and turned him back into Angelus?"

"It's certainly possible... But I don't know. I very well may be thinking too much into it, but I think there might be something larger at work here... Perhaps some... unseen force with plans that revolve around Angelus returning."

"Man, and you say _I_ read too many comic books." Xander quips.

"This is great..." Cordelia says sarcastically. "There's an unkillable demon in town, Angel's joined his team, and the big brain behind our little team is now using Xander's reading material as a reference. I'd say we've hit bottom."

"I have a plan." Xander says, ignoring Cordy.

"Oh, no, here's a lower place."

He glares at her for a second, then continues. "I don't know what's up with Angel... But I may have a way to deal with this judge guy."

"What do we do?" Willow asks coldly. Is it me, or could the tension between Xander and Willow be cut with a broadsword?

"I'm gonna need..." He looks at Willow pleading. "I think I'm gonna need... Cordelia on this one."

Wait... what?

Willow doesn't seem surprized.

"And we'll need wheels." Xander continues.

"Well, my car-"

"Bigger." Xander interrupts Cordelia.

"No problem. I'll get Oz. He has a van."

Xander looks wounded when Willow says that, but he nods.

"Good... Okay..."

"Care to let me in on the plan that I'm a part of?" Cordy asks.

"No." Xander answers.

"Why not?"

"'Cause if I tell you what it is, you won't do it. Just meet me at Willow's in a couple hours. And wear something trashy... er."

...

I sit up in bed, confused. I just had the weirdest dream. For some reason, there was Angel, the real Angel, and there was me. And there was... clotheslessness. Then, Angel said he loved me, and it flashed to a graveyard scene. It was Angel's grave, and there was a woman in black there. When I lifted the veil, I found out that it was Ms. Calendar! Weird, right? But then, even weirder was when I heard Angel's voice saying something along the lines of "You're looking in the wrong place", or something like that.

But out of all that, I know what it means. And I realize now why Ms. Calendar has been the star of so many of my dreams lately.

...

"What do you know?" I ask Ms. Calendar calmly as I walk into her room. She's talking to Giles about something, and she's in the middle of a class, but I ignore all of that.

Ms. Calendar and Giles look at me in confusion.

"Buffy?" Giles asks.

"What do you know?" I repeat myself, ignoring my Watcher. I let a little of my anger leak into my voice.

"Should I get the principal?" One of the students asks hesitantly.

"I'll handle this. You're all dismissed." Giles says, and everyone leaves without another word.

"Did you do it? Did you make sure he'd come back without a soul?" I ask her, and she swallows.

"Buffy, you can't just go around accusing everyone around you of-"

"I didn't know exactly..." Ms. Calendar interrupts him. Giles looks at her in surprize. "I was told... I was sent here to watch you. Then they told me to keep you and Angel apart, they never told me what would happen."

"Jenny..."

"I'm sorry, Rupert... Angel was supposed to pay for what he did to my people."

"So you didn't even _warn_ us that he'd come back as Angelus? You didn't even _warn_ us that he'd come back _at all_?" I ask.

"I didn't know, okay? I didn't know Angelus would come back. When you didn't get there in time to save him, we all thought it was over. I was told that your relationship with him would eventually make him lose his soul because if he achieved even one moment of true happiness, then the curse would be broken. But when you failed to save him, we thought it was over. None of us had any idea that he could come back, or I swear, I would have warned you."

I nod grudgingly. So she didn't know what would happen, but she had been lying to us the whole time. I'm mad, and I can tell Giles is mad, too, but there are more important things right now.

"Can you curse him again?" I ask. "Give him his soul back again?"

"Those majicks are long lost, even to my people." She admits, shaking her head.

"But you did it once. I mean... it might not be too late to save him..."

"Buffy?" I turn to see Kendra standing in the doorway, a hurt expression on her face.

"Kendra?"

"I... I heard some students saying dat you interrupted their class... I came to see if you were okay."

"Kendra... It's not what it sounds like, okay?" I plead with her.

"I... You promised... You told me..."

"I know, and I meant it!" I say, trying to get her to listen. "I-I-I mean... I _mean_ it! No past tense, I swear! I mean it, Kendra, I just-"

Kendra puts her hand up to silence me, then she walks away, leaving me in tears.

"I... I'm sorry... It can't be done... I can't help you..." Jenny says softly.

"Then take me to someone who can." I growl, not looking back at her.

...

We walk into the room of the man Jenny keeps calling her uncle, supposedly a wise gypsy guy. But as soon as we entered the house, I knew he was dead. I could smell him.

Sure enough, when we get to his office, we can see his body, flies buzzing around him.

I look up at the wall and see a message written in blood.

"TOO LATE, AGAIN..." It reads.

"God..." Jenny whispers, crying.

"Buffy, he's doing this deliberately." Giles says. "He's trying to make it harder for you."

"He's just making it easier." I say coldly. "I know what I have to do."

"What?"

I sigh before I answer. "Kill him."

...

Xander and Oz carry a large rectangular box into the library and set it down on the desk in front of me.

"Happy Birthday, Buffy." Xander jokes. "Hope you like the color."

Giles grabs a crowbar and starts to pry the crate open.

"Giles, we'll hit the Factory first, but we may not find them. If they're on the offensive we need to figure out where they'll go." I say.

"Agreed." Giles nods, grunting as he finally gets the box open.

I look in and smile slightly.

"This is good." I say to Xander, who nods.

"Book said no weapon forged, right? I figure that back when the baker was cooking Big Blue up in his demonic over, he was worried about swords, spears, bows and arrows, the works. But warfare has evolved slightly since then." Xander says. "Do you want me to show you how to use it?"

"Yes I do." I nod.

...

"I knew it." I sigh as we walk into the Factory, finding it empty.

"And we haven't a bead on where they would go?" Giles asks.

"I don't know. Somewhere crowded. The Judge is gonna need bodies."

"The Bronze?" Willow suggests.

"Closed tonight." Xander replies.

"There's not a lot of choices in Sunnydale." Cordelia points out. "It's not like people are gonna line up to get massacred."

"Uh, guys?" Oz says suddenly. "If I was gonna line up... I know where I'd be."

...

We walk into the mall through the back entrance, thinking Angelus and the other baddies would have taken the front. Since everyone was gonna die, they didn't need to worry about leaving any witnesses, so Angelus would want to make a dramatic entrance.

"Everybody keeps back." I order. "Damage control only. Take out any lesser vamps if you can. I'll handle the smurf."

We walk to the main portion of the mall, and sure enough, the Judge is standing there with his arms outstretched, bolts of energy going through every human in range, killing them all slowly.

I aim my crossbow and fire. The bolt flies true and sinks into the Judge's chest.

He stumbles back, losing concentration enough to stop anyone from dying, then he pulls the bolt out, pissed.

"Who dares?" He roars.

"I think I got his attention." I quip.

He sees me and throws the bolt down. "You are a fool. No weapon forged can stop me."

I toss the crossbow to the ground while Xander gets out my birthday present.

"That was then." He hands me my present. And it's a nice present. "This is now."

It's a rocket launcher. A big, bad gun to take out the big, bad blue guy.

Drusilla, Spike and Angelus see the rocket launcher, and they scramble for cover as I flip the switch.

The Judge doesn't know how to react. he's never seen one of these before.

"What's _that_ do?" The Judge asks as I fire.

_**BOOM!**_

The rocket explodes on impact, sending bits and pieces of Judge all over the place.

Drusilla flees, whimpering, and Spike and the henchvamps follow close behind.

"My best present ever." I say.

"Knew you'd like it." Xander says.

"Think he's dead?" Willow asks nervously.

"You guys pick up the pieces. Keep 'em separate." I say, and I hear Cordelia's voice saying something, probably a complaint about how she always gets the sucky jobs, but I'm focused on something else. Angelus. I see him, sneaking around a corner to escape.

I jump down from my perch atop a popcorn machine and chase after him.

Smoke from the explosion sets off the sprinklers, so this is beginning to look just like every other dramatic fight scene from the movies.

I turn another corner, still trying to find him. I listen for him, then hear him sneaking up on me. I whirl around to face him, only to connect my face with his fist.

I hit the ground hard, and he laughs.

"You know what the worst part of our whole thing was, Buffy? Pretending I loved you. If I'd known you'd jump the first girl that looked at you cross-eyed, I wouldn't have bothered. I'd have set up a video camera and just told you to have at it."

"That doesn't work anymore. You're not Angel." I say calmly.

"You'd like to think that, wouldn't you? Doesn't matter. The important thing is, when I'm done with you, I think I'll pay your little girlfriend a visit. Show her what a _real_ good night is like."

That gets me. I charge him, but he uses my momentum against me. He tosses me into the wall, then picks me up and punches me in the face. I stumble back, then whirl back around and return the favor, my right fist connecting with his lower jaw.

He recoils, but recovers quickly, bringing his right leg up and thrust kicks me in the stomach.

We go back and forth like that for almost ten full minutes before it's apparent that he's going to win.

"Not quitting on me already, are you? Come on, Buffy. Your girlfriend will probably put up a bigger fight than that. Still end the same, but at least I'll enjoy winning."

I stand up and look him in the eyes. My rage fuels me. I clothesline him in the stomach, then I stand back up, pick him up and slam him into the side of a glass case, then pull up and smash his head through the top of it as well. He goes down hard, but I don't let up.

I punch him in the face, then plant a nice crossblow to his jaw, and just start wailing on him, venting every ounce of rage I have in me, and pouring it into a fury of punches.

I stand up and pull out a stake, ready to end him, then I hesitate for some reason. I can't do it.

I know why I can't do it. Some part of me, deep, deep down, so small that I can barely even feel it anymore, still loves him. I'm not still _in love_ with him, but I'll always love him. Which is why, for now, at least, I can't kill him.

"You can't do it." Angelus rasps. "You can't kill me."

So, instead, I bring my right leg up, pouring every ounce of Slayer strength I have into a swift kick to his testicles.

He doubles over, his face turning purple with the pain, and he starts gasping for air.

"Give me time." I say as I walk away.

...

Giles pulls up in front of my house, driving me home. We sit in silence for a couple minutes.

"It's not over. I suppose you know that." He says finally.

I nod in response.

"He'll come after _you_ especially. His profile... well, he'll strike out at the things that made him the most human."

"You must be so disappointed in me." I whisper.

He shakes his head. "No, I'm not."

"But... I couldn't do it. I couldn't kill him."

He shrugs. "Do you want me to wag my finger and call you a sentimental fool of a failure? I'm afraid I can't do that. I know you loved him, and some part of you will always love him. And he has proven more than once that he loved you. You couldn't have known that he would come back by destroying the church, and you especially couldn't have known that it would be as Angelus as opposed to Angel. The coming months are going to be hard, I suspect, on all of us. But if you're looking for guilt, Buffy, I'm not your man. All you will have from me is my support... and my respect."

I don't say anything for a while, I just sit in silence. Finally, I break my silence. "What am I supposed to tell Kendra? She was so mad at me when she heard me say that I still wanted to save Angel. She's going to be even more mad when she hears that I couldn't kill him. Not even after what he said... Not even after he threatened what he threatened."

I finally break down into tears.

"I'm scared, Giles. I'm scared that he's going to hurt her. I'm scared that she's going to go after him by herself. I'm scared that I'm going to lose her because I couldn't kill him."

"Perhaps _that's_ what you should say to Kendra. Tell her what you just said. I won't guarantee that it will fix everything, that she'll just up and forgive you. But it may begin to set things straight if you tell her what your true intentions were. _Why_ you wanted to save him."

I nod, and we return to silence. Eventually, I thank Giles for the ride and, well, everything, and I get out of the car and walk up the steps.

...

I'm sitting down on the couch, watching an older movie. My mom just went to get something from the kitchen.

"Did I miss anything?" She asks as she sits down beside me.

"Some singing. And some running around."

Mom puts a candle in one of the three cupcakes she has on the plate and lights it.

"Here we go... I'm sorry I didn't have time to make you a real cake."

"This is perfect." I assure her. Well, almost perfect. I glance up to the ceiling, knowing that right above me, on the second floor, Kendra's locked herself in her room.

"So, did you have a fun birthday?" Mom asks. "What did you do?"

"I got older."

"You still look the same to me. Happy birthday." She hands me the cupcake. "I don't have to sing, do I?" She jokes.

I shake my head as I watch the flame dance on the candle.

"Well, go on. Make a wish."

I'm silent for a few moments before I answer. "I'll just let it burn."


	6. Phases

Chapter 6- Phases

"Nowhere!" Willow complains. "I mean, he said he was going to wait 'til I was ready, but... I'm ready! Honest! I'm good to go here! A-OK!"

"I think it's nice he's not just being an animal." I say honestly. Oh, we're talking about Oz, in case you were wondering.

"It is nice. He's great. We have a lot of fun. But I want some smoochies!"

"Have you dropped any hints?"

"I've dropped _anvils_." Willow says dramatically, and I smile. Well, it was more of a smirk, but without the smirky attitude behind it.

"He'll come around." I promise. "What guy coud resist your wily Willow charms?"

"At last count?" Willow asks. "All of them. Maybe more."

"Well, none of dem know a ting." Kendra says. "Dey all get an 'F' in Willow."

"Look at you!" I say to Kendra. "Ms. Western-Civilization-Reference-Girl!"

Kendra smiles proudly.

"But... I want Oz to get an 'A'!" Willow whines. "And, oh! One of those little gold stars!" She says, almost chipper.

"He will." I promise again.

"Well, he better hurry." She replies. "I don't want to be the only girl in school without a real boyfriend."

"Speaking of boyfriends..." Kendra begins. "How are you holding up, Buffy?"

"What?"

"Your ex-boyfriend just showed up as a psychotic evil bastard again. That has to be rough." Willow says.

"Oh. Right. That. Well, I'd be doing a lot better about it if I wasn't still having these dreams about Kendra dying. Only thing is, now Angel's there, watching Dru kill her again and again. And laughing."

Kendra squeezes my hand tightly.

"Sorry, Kendra." I apologize. "I know it's got to be pretty harsh hearing your girlfriend predict your imminent death."

"Actually, I'm more worried about how it is affecting you. You don't seem to be sleeping well at all, Buffy."

"I'm not." I admit. "I'll sleep better once the whole Angel-slash-Dru-slash-Spike thing is over and done with. Once they're gone, and you're still alive, I'll be fine."

Kendra smiles half-heartedly at me.

"I'll be fine, Buffy."

"Good. Say it again."

She laughs. "I'll be fine, Buffy."

"Say it again, but this time, exaggerate the accent." I say, grinning, and she returns the grin.

"I'll be fine, Booffy." She says, definitely exaggerating the accent.

"You know, I really like your accent. It's actually kind of sexy." I say, pecking her on the lips. "Maybe we could all get together and do some more research on Angelus and Drusilla. See if we missed anything." I say to Willow.

"Great! I'll call Xander, ask him to join us. What's his number? Oh, yeah: 1-800-I'm-Dating-A-Skanky-Ho!"

"Me-ow!"

"Really? Thanks! I've never gotten a "me-ow" before." Willow says, excitedly.

"Well deserved." Kendra replies.

"Darn tootin'! I'm just saying, Xander and _Cordelia_? What does he see in her, anyway?"

...

"You're sure it was a werewolf?" I ask Xander and Cordy. He called last night about a werewolf that attacked them at the park, and now, everyone's gathered around the victim of the attack: Cordy's car.

"Let's see: six feet tall, claws, big ol' snout smack dab in the middle of a wolfish face... Yeah, I'm sticking with my first guess."

"Seems wise." Oz says, quite eloquently.

"Oh, and there was that little thing where it tried to bite us." Xander finishes as Cordy buries her head in his shoulder and wraps her arms around him.

"It was so _awful_!" She whines.

"I know..." Xander agrees.

"Daddy just had it detailed!" Of course. Leave it to Cordy to be more worried about her car than her life or Xander's.

Luckily, we're spared any more dramatics as Giles comes over with a newspaper.

"What's the word?" I ask as he sets the paper down, showing the headlines.

"Seems there were a number of other attacks by a "wild dog" around town. Several animal carcasses were found mutilated."

"Oh... You mean bunnies and stuff? No, don't tell me." Willow says sadly.

"Don't worry." Oz says comfortingly. "They may not look it, but bunnies can really take care of themselves." I smile at that. Willow really couldn't have picked a guy better suited for her. He's quirky, weird, and he shares the same silly sense of humor as her. All in all, he's basically a male Willow. Hmm... maybe he'll let me call him Will.

"Yeah." Willow says, perking up slightly.

"Fortunately, no people were injured." Giles adds.

"That falls into the "that's a switch" column." I say, impressed.

"For now." Giles agrees. "But my next guess is this werewolf will be back at next month's full moon."

"What about _tonight's_ full moon?" Willow asks curiously.

"Pardon?" Wow, Willow even stumped Giles. Yet another first for the Hellmouth High gang.

"Last night was the night before the full moon. Traditionally known as... the... night before the full moon."

"Meaning the accepted legend that werewolves only prowl during the full moon might be erroneous." Giles says thoughtfully.

"Or it could be a crock." Cordy says, unknowingly translating what Giles said to normal English, instead of... English... English...

"Unless our werewolf is still using last year's almanac." Xander quips.

"Looks like Giles has some schoolin' to do." I say with a nod.

"I must admit, I'm intrigued." Giles says, grinning. "A werewolf? It's one of the classics... I'm sure my books and I are in for a fascinating afternoon."

"He needs to get a pet." Kendra says after Giles leaves.

"Definitely." I agree.

"Or, really, anyting to occupy his time and get him out of de books."

...

"Sunnydale is becoming more dangerous all the time." Miss Litto, our gym teacher, says. "And a full moon like tonight tends to bring out the crazies. But with some simple basics of self-defense, each of you can learn how to protect yourself..." I zone out as she continues to talk, and I turn to Kendra, Willow and Oz.

"Here's a suggestion: Move away from the Hellmouth." I quip. Willow jumps as Oz does something to the back of her collar.

"Tag." He explains simply. Xander grumbles something to Cordelia and leans in to whisper to us.

"Hey, buddy, you're in a public forum here!" He gripes at Oz, and I have to stifle my surprise. I thought Xander liked Oz?

"I think you splashed on a little too much "Obsession for Dorks"." Cordy berates him.

"Okay everyone! Get into your _assigned_ groups!" Miss Litto shouts at us and blows her whistle.

Larry, some big womanizing jock, walks up to me, taking off his jacket. We're all surprised to see his arm wrapped in a large bandage.

"What happened to you?" Xander asks.

"Ah, last week, some huge dog jumped out of the bushes and bit me. Thirty-nine stitches. They ought to shoot those strays." Larry says.

"I been there, man." We all turn to Oz, who olds up his index finger. "My cousin Jordy. Just got his grown-up teeth in. Does not like to be tickled."

"Looks like it healed already." Willow says, upon examining it.

"The emotional scar is still there."

"Theresa, be still my shorts!" Larry says, walking up to a girl named Theresa. "We're in the same group. I may have to attack you." He says, grinning like the perv he is.

"No... I think, actually... in our group... there're a few of us..." Theresa says timidly, and I step up.

"Yeah, and I'm one of the few." I give Theresa an opportunity to back away, and Willow pulls me to the side for a minute.

"Don't forget, you're supposed to be a meek little girlie-girl like the rest of us." She says as Kendra easily slings her "attacker" over her shoulder, then pins him on the ground.

I look pointedly at Kendra, and Willow rolls her eyes.

"Okay, so... _most_ of us, anyway."

"Spoil my fun." I tease, and walk back over to my group.

I watch as Willow and Cordelia both throw insults back and forth, including a pretty clever retort about Cordelia living in a brothel from Willow. When Xander walks up to them, they look at each other and take turns beating him to a pulp.

"Why...?!" He whines.

"Okay, everyone!" Miss Litto gets our attention again. "Listen up! I want to show you what to do should you be attacked from behind!"

Larry walks up and puts his arm around me as Miss Litto explains what to do.

"In this situation, bend forward, using your back and shoulders to flip your assailant over and to the ground!"

I "struggle" to flip him, putting the weak girl act on for Willow's sake.

I grunt a couple times for effect, but Larry seems to be enjoying it.

"You're turning me on, Summers!" He says, then grabs a handful of my ass, squeezing not-so-gently. My eyes grow wide at that, and in a flash, I pretty much choke-slam him to the ground, much to Kendra's amusement.

"That works, too." She says, kissing me quickly and grinning as she returns to her group.

...

"... And while there is no scientific explanation for lunar effect on the human psyche, the phases of the moon do exert a great deal of psychological influence. And a full moon tends to bring out our darkest qualities." Giles says as he uses a globe, a model of the moon and a lamp to represent the sun.

"Yet, ironically, also lead to the invention of the moon pie." Xander quips.

Giles chuckles. "Moon pie..." He says under his breath, still laughing.

We're all staring at him.

"Talk about "lunar effects on the human psyche"." Kendra mumbles to me. I smirk.

Finally, Giles clears his throat and continues. "You see, a werewolf is such a potent extreme representation of our inborn animalistic traits that it emerges for three consecutive nights: the full moon and the two nights on either side of it."

"Quite the party animal." Willow says.

"Quite." Giles agrees. "It acts on pure instinct, without conscience, predatory and aggressive-"

"In other words, your typical male." I interject, and Kendra and Willow nod their heads in agreement.

"On behalf of my gender: Hey!" Xander says defensively.

"Let's not jump to conclusions..." Giles says.

"I didn't jump. I took a tiny step. And there conclusions were." I counter.

"The point is, our wolf-man could very well also be a wolf-woman."

"Hermaphro-wolf?" Willow asks.

"Er, well, technically, yes, that's possible, but no, I meant separately. It could either be a man or a woman under the guise of the werewolf." Giles says awkwardly, cleaning his glasses. "Or anyone who's been bitten by a werewolf."

"And whoever it is will be changing any moment." Xander says, looking at his watch.

"'Cause it'll be night soon." Willow agrees, spinning the globe to represent the Earth's rotation. What? I pay attention in class. Sometimes...

"So, then..." Xander begins. "I'm guessing your standard issue silver bullets are in order here?"

"No. No bullets." Giles says quickly. "No matter who this werewolf is, it's still a human being. Who might be completely unaware of his..." then, with a glance towards me, he adds, "...or her, condition."

I shrug. "So tonight we bring 'em back alive."

...

Giles, Kendra and I are out at Makeout Park, where Cordy and Xander had the run-in with Fluffy.

"Anything yet?" he asks.

"Yes." I confirm. "And you won't believe it! Lisa Hamm is over there making out with Tim Bushway! But _he's_ dating Mandy Donaldson. If she ever finds out-" I catch Giles' look, which is _not_ one of amusement. "Nothing. Not a werwolf in sight. You?"

"The same. I thought we might knock on a few windows, ask if anyone has seen anything."

"Giles? No one's seen anyting." Kendra says, glancing pointedly to a couple in their car right in front of them who don't notice Giles standing right in front of them holding a tranq gun talking to two teenage girls.

"Yes... Of course not." Giles agrees. We all split up again, and I hear something near the edge of the park, so I walk over to check it out.

The bushes rustle, and I lunge into them to catch whatever is in them, but somehow, I end up hanging upside-down in a net five feet up off the ground.

I struggle in the net for a minute before some guy comes walking towards me looking like a Steve Irwin wannabe.

"Gotcha." he says.

_Oh, great. On top of a werewolf, now I've got _this_ bump-in-the-night trying to kill me._

"Giles!" I call out, and the gun guy lowers his gun in confusion, then pokes me. "Ow!"

"Hey!" Giles shouts as he runs up, only to freeze and put his hands up when Mr. Crocodile Hunter points the rifle at him. "Whoa, now..." He says hesitantly.

"The hands are good right about there."

"Who are you, what are you doing?" Giles asks him.

"Name's Cain. _I'm_ the one with the gun. Which mean's I'm the one who gets to do the interviewing."

"You know, before we get all chummy, could we do something about this "me being in a net" thing?" I ask, and Cain uses a large knife to cut a rope, which drops me and the net to the ground. Hard.

"Are you alright?" Giles asks as he helps me out of the net.

"I could have done without the poking." I admit.

"I gotta say, I'm impressed." Mr. Knife-Guy says.

Confused, Giles asks, "Excuse me?"

"It's good to get the fruit while it's fresh." he says, looking at me. Giles glares at him, and I feel bile rising in my throat.

Giles growls. "You'd be wise to take that back."

"Hey, what a man and a girl are doing in Lovers' Lane at night is nobody's-"

Giles steps forward, but I stop him just as Kendra walks up.

"Are you alright? I heard you call." She asks me as she puts her hands on my shoulders in concern.

"I'm fine." I say with a slight smile at her concern.

Cain whistles. "Man, what's your secret? Two of them? You must be doing something right." he says to Giles, and I pale again. Kendra looks at everyone in confusion.

"What is going on?" She asks.

"It's not what you think, repulsive brain." I growl at him, waving Kendra off. "We're hunting a werewolf."

Cain looks at us all in surprise, then bursts into laughter.

"Sure, it's funny if you don't believe in werewolves." I mumble.

"No, it's funny thinking about you lot catching one!" He says. "This guy..." He looks at Giles. "He looks like he's auditioning to be a librarian. And you two... Well, you're girls." He adds, looking at me and Kendra.

"We can handle ourselves, Mick Dundee." Kendra fires back. I grin.

"Nailed the pop culture reference." I say to her, wrapping an arm around her waist. Cain raises an eyebrow at that.

"Uh-huh." He says, as if to say 'Sure, it's not what I thought at all. Riiiiiiight.'. Then goes back to the topic at hand. "Lemme ask you girlies something. Exactly how many of these animals have you taken out?"

"As of today?" I deadpan.

He smirks and pulls a necklace out of his shirt. It's made of teeth.

"I tore a tooth from the mouth of every werewolf that I killed." He says. "This next one will bring the total to an even dozen."

I look at Giles, then Kendra, then at Cain. "You're just going to kill it?!"

"Well, see, that's the thing. Their pelts fetch a pretty penny in Sri Lanka, and it's a little hard to skin 'em whan they're alive."

"You're hunting dem for sport!" Kendra exclaims incredulously.

"Oh, no. I'm in it purely for the money."

"And it does not bother you dat dey are humans twenty-eight days out of de mont?" Kendra asks, clenching her fists.

"You know, it does bother me a bit." He says, then shrugs and grins. "That's why I only hunt them the other three." He adds as he starts to pack up his stuff. "I'd really love to stay and chat, but I'm on a tight schedule. Any idea where else the boys and girls like to get together in this town?"

"You looking for a party?" I ask.

"No, but the werewolf is. They're suckers for that whole "sexual heat" thing. Sense it miles away. But since the little doggie ain't here, it must have found another place."

I look at Kendra, and she nods slightly in agreement. I look back to Cain and do what every teenage girl thinks she does best. I lie to him. "Wish we could help you, but..."

"You don't know squat? Gee. What a surprise." He says, his arrogance working in my favor.

He leaves and Kendra and I scramble to gather up our stuff. Giles looks at us in confusion.

"Where are we going?" he asks.

"We know where to look." Kendra explains.

"Yeah, we just need to get there before Mein Furrier." I add.

...

Screams and crashes from inside the Bronze tells me that my hunch was right.

"Looks like your hunch was right." Giles says.

Wait, didn't I just say that?

"How could a werewolf resist Sunnydale's "House o' Hormones"?" I quip, and Giles and Kendra nod in agreement.

We wade through a crowd of teenagers running for their lives as we try to get inside.

"The werewolf! It's in there!" We hear Willow shout over the screams, and find her and Cordy over by the door.

" 'll really let anyone in these clubs these days." Kendra jokes, and I nod, grinning.

"I'll say." Cordy says, rolling her eyes and turning to the Bouncer. "You could be a _little _more discriminating with that velvet rope!" She shouts at him.

Kendra and I roll our eyes and I pull a chain out of our bag, handing the bag to Giles as Kendra and I head inside. Kendra has her own chain as we head to the backstage area. Kendra heads upstairs to look around, leaving me alone backstage.

I look around backstage for a while until a sudden movement catches my attention. I whip around just in time for the werewolf to tackle me. I roll with the fall and use the werewolf's momentum to throw it off of me.

It lunges at me again, and I use my reflexes and Slayer strength to punch it in the face.

"Bad dog." I hear Kendra growl as she shows up behind me. The werewolf jumps at her, and she does a backflip, catching it under the chin with a powerful kick. The beasty boy is stunned, so I throw my chain around its neck and lock it in place.

But then it swings its head roughly, sending me crashing into Kendra, knocking us both to the ground as the werewolf gets away, jumping through a window to escape to the outside.

We hear a howl as we climb to our feet, then Giles rushes in. Unfortunately, Cain is with him.

"You let it get away." Cain growls.

"I didn't do anything!" I protest. "I had the chain around its neck-"

"Chain?! What were you going to do, take it for a walk?"

"I was trying to lock it up." I mumble.

"That's beautiful." He says, sarcastically wiping a tear away, then he shakes his head. "This is what happens when you send a couple of girls to do a man's job."

"Hey Rambo," Kendra growls. "We just put our lives at risk to capture a beast ya haven't even found yet."

"Uh-huh." He rolls his eyes. "And Daddy over here's doing a great job of carrying your Milk Bones." He nods to Giles, who tries to step up to kill him again. I stop him, though. I think Kendra's finally caught onto what he thinks is going on, because I don't react in time to stop her from punching him. He groans in pain as he picks himself up off the floor.

He holds his nose and checks it for blood. There's none, so I don't think Kendra hit him with any real strength. Just enough to get the point across. He glares at us.

"You know, girlies, if that thing out there harms anyone? It's going to be on your pretty little heads." He growls. Then, when we don't respond, he turns and starts walking away. "I hope you can live with that."

"We live with dat every day." Kendra says sadly.

We can hear him grumbling to himself as he walks away.

"Let's move out." Giles says as he zips up the bag, and we leave.

...

Kendra and I decide we should head back to Makeout Park to check for the werewolf, so Giles decides to keep the car warm.

"I'm not seeing it, Kendra." I say.

"Neither am I." She sighs.

"It's getting early." I say, looking up at the sky. "The werewolf isn't a werewolf anymore. We're not going to find Fluffy today."

"No, I suppose not." She agrees.

I grin at her. "You know... We've still got a little while before we're supposed to meet Giles back at the car..."

"Ya want to keep looking?" She asks curiously.

"Mm... no." I say, looking away, biting my lip.

"Den what are ya... Oh..." She says when she finally sees the look on my face.

I smile. "They don't call it Makeout Park for nothing." I say as I pull her in and kiss her.

The kiss quickly grows heated.

We haven't done anything since that night after the sewers, though I think it's because seeing Angel has shaken me up more than I thought. Not because I love him more than Kendra, but it's just that him turning back into Angelus is weird. Believe me, I'm all about the dark, exotic beauty that is my girlfriend, Kendra.

"I love you." I whisper when we pull away for air, and our lips immediately meet again in another passionate kiss.

"I love you, too, Buffy." She replies.

"Say it again." I say, and she smiles, knowing exactly what I want.

"I love you, too, Booffy." She exaggerates her accent, and I shiver. For some reason, it affects me more this time than the other times, and I feel it go straight to my... you know... _that_ place...

Kendra notices my reaction, and her eyes go dark. They go just as dark now as they had that night early last week, and I know that this is different from the other times since then that we've come close to doing _it_ again, but our nerves scared us away.

She pushes me gently against a tree, and her hands move to undo my blouse. I let her, and soon, my shirt falls to the forest floor, exposing my pink bra-clad breasts. She gives them a squeeze and I arch into her touch as I fumble with her shirt. Soon, I slide it over her head, moaning at just the sight of her dark skin accentuated by the violet colored bra she's wearing that barely manages to support her heavy chest.

She kisses me, and lays me down on the forest floor, settling in between my legs. I squeeze her hips with my thighs and raise my own hips up to meet hers, groaning as I make contact. I'm really wishing we weren't wearing pants right now.

She seems to have the same thought as she groans and pulls back to fumble with the button on my jeans. I help her out and undo my own jeans, sliding them down my own legs and tossing them over to where her shirt and my blouse and bra are already laying. Wait, when did she take my bra off?

She smirks at me and winks, somehow knowing what I was just thinking, then she kisses me passionately as she takes her own pants off and settles back down in between my legs, our cores meeting through our panties, and we both gasp at the much better contact than before.

I reach around her and unclasp her bra as she starts to grind down on me, delicious moans of pleasure escaping both of our mouths. I toss her bra over... somewhere... I'm not in the frame of mind to pay attention where.

Her breasts press against mine, and our rock-hard nipples grind against each other, making our moans more intense.

I roll us over and sit up enough to slip my fingers in under the waistband of her panties, and I crawl backwards, bringing them with me. She lifts her hips and allows me to slide her panties off.

As soon as we're both naked, I crawl back up again and let her flip us back over so she can settle back in between my legs. I love the feeling of her hips pressed against mine, and my thighs clenching around her waist as she starts grinding on me again, unhindered by our panties anymore.

"Oh, god... Kendra..." I moan, wrapping my arms around her tightly, and I match her pace as I grind up on her, moving opposite of her. When she rocks her hips down, I rock up, and vice versa.

"Booffy..." She moans, exaggerating her accent again without realizing it, and it sends another jolt of electricity to my core, translating as pleasure as I have to press my lips to hers in order to stifle my scream.

We're moving faster against each other. And faster. And harder, desperate for more.

She reaches down between us and spreads my lower lips wide open, leaving my clit fully exposed as she grinds down harder on me, and I gasp as my body starts shaking at the intense sensations.

I reach down and part her lower lips as well, and she has to bite my neck to prevent herself from screaming out loud. I feel a pulling sensation inside me, and my inner muscles clamp down hard as I cum, my juices coating Kendra's sex, which makes her cum as well, our juices mingling together as we moan loudly, still grinding to ride out our orgasms.

...

Kendra wasn't able to find her bra, which I apologized for, though I'm _really_ not sorry about it, because now her nipples are poking out through her shirt, showing how turned on she is that we just had sex again, and in a _forest,_ no less.

We finish getting dressed after cleaning each other up, which involved a _lot_ of tongue work. Not complaining one bit. Nope, no complaints here.

We walk back to Giles' car, only to see that his idea of keeping the car warm is sleeping in the driver's seat. I tap on the hood of the car, and he's startled awake.

"Blaerg!" he shouts as he hits his head on the ceiling and starts rubbing it. He finally notices us and yawns. "Any sign of the werewolf?" He asks.

"No." Kendra admits. "And I suppose ya haven't seen much eidder, from de vantage point of having your eyes closed."

Giles sighs and looks out the window. "It's starting to get light. I suppose we should be heading-"

"Shh..." I hush him and turn the radio up, slumping in my seat when I hear that Theresa's dead. I can sense Kendra's as devastated as I am. I didn't know Theresa that well, but we got along well enough. We were on our way to actually maybe even being friends.

"We've got another night, Buffy." Kendra points out. "We're going to get dis beast."

Giles nods. "But right now, there's nothing we can do. The sun is rising. The werewolf isn't a werewolf anymore."

...

"I can't believe I let that thing get away. Cain was right. I should have killed it when I had the chance!" I growl. We're all in the library right now, talking about what to do about the werewolf.

"Killed what?" Oz asks when he walks in.

"The werewolf." Gikes explains. "It was out last night."

Oz seems to panic at first, which is understandable, considering we're talking about the Three Little Pigs' worst nightmare come to life roaming around on the Hellmouth with tons of unsuspecting walking fast food restaurants waiting to be gobbled up.

"Is everyone okay? Was anyone scratched? Or bitten?" he asks.

"No, we're fine." Willow says.

"Gladness."

"But the werwolf got someone. Theresa." I add.

"'Got'... as in..." He trails off and slumps against a wall, like Theresa had been his girlfriend or something. "Wow... I'm sorry." He says softly.

I nod. "And the worst part is, I could have stopped it."

"Well, we still have one more night." Kendra growls.

"Another night?" Oz asks, almost nervously.

"Oh, yeah. And I'm planning on _giving _little wolfie something to howl about." I say angrily.

"Huh..."

Xander interjects. "But while we hang out here doing nothing, there's a human werewolf walking around out there, probably making fun of us."

"The way werewolves always do." Willow nods sarcastically.

"But there's really no way to tell who is is, right?" Oz asks.

"Sure there is." Xander answers, and he has our attention. How does Xander know how to identify a werewolf? "Giles knows stuff. And I'm practically an expert on this subject."

"On account of how you were once a hyena?" Willow asks, and Xander nods.

"Xander was...?" Oz asks.

"Hyena?" Kendra asks at the same time.

"Before we knew you." Willow replies to both of them.

"I know what it's like to crave the taste of freshly killed meat. To be taken over by these uncontrollable urges-"

"You said you didn't remember anything about that." I interrupt Xander's monologue.

"I said I didn't remember anything about that." Xander agrees, like it was a revelation that just hit him. Okay, Mr. Clueless. "Look, the point is, I have an affinity with this thing. I can get inside its head." He starts acting like some kind of beast. Or a hormonal teenage boy. Same thing, anyway. "Okay, I'm a big, bad wolf. I'm on the prowl. I'm a sniffing, snarling, slobbering predator..." Xander stops goofing off and stares right at Oz. "Wait a second! It's right in front of us! It's obvious who I am! I'm Larry! He's practically got 'wolf-boy' stamped on his forehead. You got the dog bite, you got the aggression. Not to mention the excessive back-hair."

"You know, he was a little overly glee-ful at the thought of tormenting Theresa." I agree.

"Still, that doesn't necessarily mean-" Oz begins, only to be interrupted by Xander.

"I'm going to go talk to him. Force a confession out of him."

"Good. Go." Giles agrees. "In the meantime, let's cover our bases. Willow, check the student files. See if anyone fits the profile." He turns and starts to head for his office, and I follow.

"Where are we going?" I ask as Kendra follows, too.

"If none of that works, I think I've struck upon a way to finally lay this problem to rest."

"Me and the werewolf, three minutes alone in a cage. That's all I ask." I say sincerely.

We follow Giles into the office.

"So what's the what, Giles?" I ask.

"What's de plan for taking Big and Fuzzy to Obedience School?" Kendra asks.

"This." Giles replies as he pulls out a small syringe. "Picture this being shot out of a high-powered rifle filled with enough phenobarbital to drop a small elephant."

"So we're gonna tranq it?"

"Er, yes, Buffy. A tranquilizer dart should render the werewolf unconscious long enough for the moon to set and cause the werewolf to revert to human form. Then, we may interrogate the creature in the morning in order to determine a further course of action."

...

Later, I head back to the library again to see Willow at the computer by herself, doing hacker-ish things. Possibly illegal, but since they suit our goal, I'm gonna call it "cool" instead.

"So what's the scuttle-butt?" I ask her. "Anyone besides Larry fit the werewolf profile?"

"There is one name that keeps getting spit out." She admits. "Aggressive behavior, run-ins with authorities, about a handful of violent incidents..." She types something out and hits "enter" on the keyboard. I look at the screen, then turn and glare at Willow.

"Okay, most of those weren't even my fault. The other guy started it. I was just standing up for myself."

"They say it's a good idea to count to ten when you're angry."

"One, two, three..."

"Okay, I'll keep looking." Willow says quickly.

"I noticed you're looking solo."

"Yeah... Oz wanted to be somewhere that was away. From me." Willow says sadly.

"I'm sorry."

"I can't figure him out. He's so hot and cold. Or, lukewarm and cold."

"Welcome to the mystery that is men. I think what happens is they grow body hair, then they lose the ability to talk about what they really want."

"Doesn't sound like a good trade." She says as the bell rings. Willow shuts the computer down and we grab our stuff, heading out the door.

"Seems to me you and Oz have a synapse problem. So if you want to get anywhere with him, you've got to make the first move." I say as we walk.

"That doesn't make me a slut?"

"No, worse. It makes you a Cordelia." I joke, and Willow gasps and looks at me in offense. "Kidding. I think your reputation'll remain intact."

Willow sighs. "It used to be so much easier to tell if a boy liked you. He'd punch you in the arm, then run back to his friends."

"Yeah, those were the days. You can see why I changed teams."

Willow giggles and nods.

Xander walks up and punches me in the arm as Willow starts to walk away. "I'll see you guys later. Cordelia asked me to look over her history homework before class. I think that means I might have to do it."

We watch Willow walk away, and I chuckle under my breath.

"Wow... Those two have been hanging out together a lot. This would be a good time to panic."

"How'd it go with Larry?"

"What's that supposed to mean?!" Xander asks quickly, defensively.

"I... think it's supposed to mean 'How'd it go with Larry?'..."

"He's not the werewolf. Can't you leave it at that?! Must you continue to push and push?!"

"Sorry, I was just wondering-"

"Well he's not!"

"Okay."

"Okay."

"So there goes our lead suspect." I groan and slump up against a locker. "Which puts us right back at square boned."

"You're not boned." Xander says. "You're Buffy. Eradicator of evil. Defender of... things that need defending."

"Tell that to Theresa. She could have used some defending before she was ripped apart by that..." Wait a second...

"Werewolf." Xander finishes, trying to be helpful.

I turn to him abruptly. "None of the reports said anything about Theresa being mauled. But it was linked to the animal attacks from the other night, so we just assumed werewolf."

"What else should we have assumed?"

"I don't know. That's what we're going to find out." I say as we head to the library.

...

"What are you saying, Buffy?" Giles asks when I tell him my suspicions.

"Think about it, Giles, werewolves aren't the only big, evil, nasty thing on the Hellmouth. What if we're blaming an innocent... demon... for something it didn't do? That would mean that this werewolf hasn't killed anybody yet, and we might not have to kill it back."

"Are you sure about dis?" Kendra asks.

"No." I admit. "But I'd rather be sure about it. I'm going to check out Theresa's body, see if it's possible that she was killed by a different big nasty than our fuzzy Mr. Hyde. You in?"

"Actually, it might be more prudent for Kendra to search for the werwolf while you are investigating Theresa's death." Giles points out.

I sigh. "Yeah. I guess you're right. Be careful, Kendra." I say worriedly.

"I will." She agrees.

I walk up to her and kiss her deeply. She pulls me in closer and returns the kiss with just as much enthusiasm. It's always like this when we have to split up. Being Slayers, we're never sure which kiss is going to be our last, so we try to make every one of them count.

The gang seems to understand this, because they don't even try to interrupt us until we finally pull apart. I peck her one more time on the lips, then I move to walk out of the library.

"Wait up, Buff." Xander says. I smile gratefully at him when he follows me out of the library.

...

"Looks like your hunch was right, Buff." Xander says as we stare down at Theresa's body, lying in an open casket.

"Vampire." I agree.

"So that's good, right? I mean in the sense of, the werewolf didn't get her and... No... There is no good here."

"Yeah." I agree again. "Instead of not protecting Theresa from a werewolf I was able to not protect her from something just as bad."

I look at the sign-in book, and notice there are a lot of names.

"She had a lot of friends." I whisper.

"Buffy, you can't blame yourself for every death in Sunnydale. If it weren't for you, people would be lining up five deep needing to get themselves buried. Willow would be Robbie the Robot's love slave, I wouldn't have a head, and THERESA'S A VAMPIRE!" Xander shouts suddenly, and I whip around just in time for Theresa to tackle me, knocking my stake out of my hand.

We roll around for a bit until I end up on top. I snap a leg off of the easel the sign-in book was resting on, and am about to stake Theresa with it, but then she speaks.

"Angel sends his love."

I freeze at Angel's name, and Theresa takes advantage and knocks the stake out of my hand.

We roll around again, and this time, Theresa comes out on top. Just as she's about to kill me, Xander stabs her from behind with the two and a half remaining legs. She goes up in dust, and Xander helps me up.

"Are you okay?" He asks.

"This isn't happening..." I mumble.

"Buffy..." He says, and he touches my arm comfortingly. I curl up in his arms, needing to be held.

"He's gonna keep coming after me. Until-"

"Don't let him get to you." Xander interrupts me. "He's not the same guy you know."

Unfortunately, he already has gotten to me.

"Xander..." I say after a while. I take a deep breath. "Thanks."

He smiles slightly, and we break apart. I compose myself and adopt the mask of the Slayer.

"Well, I've got a lot to do tonight."

"Yeah." He agrees.

"I should probably go do it." I say as I leave. Xander follows after a minute.

...

"Sorry I'm late." I say to Giles and Kendra as I walk into the library. "Had to do some unscheduled slaying in the form of Theresa."

"She's a vampire?"

"Was. Angel sent her to me. A little token of his affection."

"Buffy, I'm sorry-" Giles says as he walks up to me, but I put my hand up to stop him.

"Not now, Giles. We'll have ourselves a good cry after we've bagged us a werewolf."

Giles nods as he starts putting the rifle together. I sit down in Kendra's lap and rest my forehead against hers.

"At least we know dat de werewolf didn't kill anyone. We won't have to kill it."

I nod. "Yeah. Enough people have died already." I agree.

"All set." Giles announces as he screws on the scope. "Let's go find this thing."

"How are we gonna do dat?" Kendra asks as we both stand up.

"It's Oz! It's Oz!" Willow screams as she bursts through the doors of the library.

"What's Oz?" I ask.

"The werewolf!"

"Are you certain?" Giles asks.

"Can't you just trust me on this?! He said he was going through all these changes, then he... went through all these changes."

"Where is he now?" I ask hurriedly.

"In the woods!"

"Willow, it'll be okay. We're going to take care of everything." I say, and Willow notices the rifle.

"Let's go." Giles says as he pumps the rifle.

"Go where?! You're not going to kill Oz?! I mean, sure, he's a werewolf, but I bet he doesn't mean to be!"

"Don't worry, we won't hurt him." Kendra assures her, showing her the tranquilizer dart. "We loaded dis with enough phenobarbital to drop a seven hundred pound silverback gorilla. It'll be more dan enough to handle a werewolf."

Willow nods, and the four of us go off in search of Oz.

...

"Good doggie. Now play dead." I hear Cain say as he puts his finger on the trigger, ready to shoot Oz.

I kick the gun up so the shot is fired into the air, then I disarm him and slam the non-shooty end of it into his gut. He hits the ground, out like... something that goes out. I don't have time to think of anything quippy as Oz leaps at me, having been warned by the shot.

I swing the gun like a club and bat him away, but he comes right back at me and snaps with his teeth. I get the gun in between his teeth as he tackles me, and I barely manage to hold him at bay. I roll us and pin him down, but he swings at me and knocks me off of him.

"Careful!" I hear Willow say to Giles, who I guess is having a hard time aiming the tranq gun without me getting in the way.

I manage to pin Oz down, but he kicks up nd sends me flying into Giles and Willow, knocking them down like the werewolf just bowled a strike.

Willow recovers first, and she and the werewolf stare each other down for a minute before Oz charges right at her. Everything happens so fast.

Kendra tackles Oz to the side. Willow's shot from the tranq gun, which I only now realize she's picked up, hits Kendra instead. I panic as I struggle to get to my feet. Kendra hits the ground, unconscious, and the werewolf opens his mouth to bite her.

I get to my feet just in time to slam the werewolf away from Kendra, and Willow and Giles get to work loading the second tranq dart. We brought three just in case we missed.

I place a thrust kick to the werewolf's chest, sending him flying up against a tree. He hits with a whimper, and Willow aims the gun again. She fires, but misses when Oz lunges at me, the dart hitting the tree he'd just been up against.

I jump out of the way, but realize my mistake as it lands on Kendra. He sinks his teeth into her shoulder, about to tear her limb from limb. I tackle Oz, though, and he takes a chunk out of her arm, but Slayer healing will fix that within a week or two.

I start punching Oz wildly with tears in my eyes at the thought of the curse he just forced on Kendra. Finally, Willow shoots the last dart, and it hits Oz in the side, knocking him out, and Giles pulls me away from him.

I run over to Kendra and drop to her side. I sob as I tear a piece of my shirt off and use it as a tourniquet to stop her bleeding.

Giles walks over and checks out Kendra's wound. He looks up at me and smiles reassuringly. "It'll be alright, Buffy. It's not as bad as you think it is. His teeth only just barely broke the surface. It is unlikely that Kendra will become a werewolf, especially with her Slayer healing helping her fight off the curse."

I sigh in relief and nod.

We hear something behind us, so we whip around to see Cain walking over.

"No wonder this town is overrun with monsters. No one here's man enough to kill 'em." He growls.

"I wouldn't be so sure of that." I say as I stand up and pick up his rifle. "You know, Mr. Cain, I've been sick of you since the moment _before_ I met you. And I've been waiting for just the opportunity to take you on. But then I realized: a big, strong man like you versus a girl like me?" I use all of my Slayer strength to turn his rifle into a pretzel. "Wouldn't be a fair fight." I growl as I throw the new cinnamon twist at him. "How about you let the door hit you in the ass on the way out of town."

He opens his mouth to retort, but closes it, then turns and walks away, hanging his head.

"Willow?" I ask her when I see her hunched over the werewolf.

"Is he going to be all right?" She asks Giles.

"He'll be a little sore in the morning, but he'll be Oz." Giles confirms.

Willow smiles slightly and nods.

...

"This is all so weird." Xander says as we sit at a table in the crapeteria. "I mean, how are we supposed to act when we see him?"

"I'm sure it's weird for him, too, now that we know so much."

"I know I'll never be able to look at him the same way again."

"Hey, he's still a human being. Most of the time." I counter.

Xander freezes. "Who are you talking about?"

"Oz." I say, confused. "Who are _you_ talking about?"

"No one." He says as Larry walks up. I roll my eyes at the pig, but gawk in surprise when, instead of staring at some girl's ass, who just had her books knocked out of her hands by Larry's friends, he bends down and helps her pick her books up.

She walks away, and Larry approaches us. "Hey, Xander, about what you did? I owe you." He says, putting his hands on Xander's shoulder.

"What did you do?" I ask Xander in confusion.

"It really was nothing. That we should be talking about. Ever." Xander says pointedly at Larry, who nods in understanding.

"I know. It's just, well, thanks." Larry says, squeezing Xander's shoulder, who tenses up.

"That was weird." I say as Larry walks away.

"What? It's not okay for one guy to like another guy just because he happened to be in the locker room when absolutely nothing happened and I thought I told you not to push!"

I recoil and gawk at Xander. "All I meant was he didn't try to look up my dress."

"Oh, yeah... That was the weirdness."

"Weirdness abounds lately." I agree. "Maybe it's the moon. It does stuff to people."

"I've heard that."

"And it's sure going to put a strain on Willow and Oz's relationship." I say as I see Willow heading outside.

"What relationship?" He asks. "What kind of life could they possibly have? You're talking obedience school, paper training. Oz would burying all their stuff in the backyard. And that kind of breed can turn on its owner."

"I don't know. I see Oz as the loyal type." I counter.

"I'm just saying, she's not safe with him. If it was up to me-"

"Xander?" I interrupt, pointing towards Willow, who's walking up to Oz. She sits down beside him. "It's not up to you."

...

I walk up to Kendra's room when I get home from school. We told Mom that she was bitten by a dog at the park last night, but that it wasn't bad enough to go to a hospital. She insisted that Kendra stay home today, though, and rest.

"How are you doing?" I ask my dark-skinned girlfriend.

"I'm doing okay, I suppose. As well as I can be when your mom won't even let me leave me room unless it's to go to de bathroom."

"Maternal instincts." I sigh. "Doctor ordered bed rest."

Kendra laughs quietly. I grow serious. "Seriously, how are you feeling?"

"Ya mean, do I feel like I'm about to get a lot hairier and even more aggressive?" I nod. "No. But, we'll find out if anyting will come of dis come next month."

I smile. "Just promise me that, if you do become a werewolf, you won't start PMSing around the full moon, too. I have a hard enough time keeping you under control as it is." I joke to lighten the mood.

"Is dat what you've been doing? Controlling me?" Kendra raises an eyebrow in challenge.

I nod in confirmation. "Yup."

Kendra growls playfully and pulls me down on the bed, rolling us so she's laying on top of me, and she attaches her lips to my neck.

And she proved to me who the _real_ dominant one in this relationship is. And it's not me.


End file.
